Motilal Agarwala vs State of West Bengal 2025 INSC 1062 - S.31 Arbitration Act - Delivery Of Award
Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 - Section 31 - The delivery of an arbitral award under Section 31(5) is not a matter of mere formality. It is a matter of substance -The expression “party”, as defined in Section 2(1)(h) would be a person who is a “party” to an arbitration agreement- In order to constitute an effective service, a copy of an award, where such party is the Ministry of a particular Department, is to be delivered to a person who has the knowledge and is the best person to understand and appreciate an award and more particularly, to take decision for its challenge - The authorised representative of the State could not have taken the final decision to challenge the award. It is only the Secretary of the concerned Department or the Executive Engineer, who could be said to be the competent authority to take a decision as to whether the award could be challenged or not. (Para 21-25)
Case Info
Case Name and Neutral Citation
- Case Name: M/S. Motilal Agarwala v. State of West Bengal & Anr.
- Neutral Citation: 2025 INSC 1062
Coram (Judges)
- J.B. Pardiwala, J.
- K.V. Viswanathan, J.
Judgment Date
- Date of Judgment: August 28, 2025
Caselaws and Citations Referred
- State of Maharashtra v. ARK BuildersCitation: (2011) 4 SCC 616
- Benarsi Krishna Committee & Ors. v. Karmyogi Shelters Private LimitedCitation: (2012) 9 SCC 496
- Union of India v. Tecco Trichy Engineers & ContractorsCitation: (2005) 4 SCC 239
- National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. v. M/s R. Piyarelal Import & Export Ltd.Judgment dated 28th August, 2015, APOT 337 of 2015 (Calcutta High Court)
Statutes/Laws Referred
- Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
- Section 2(1)(h): Definition of “party”
- Section 31(1) & 31(5): Form, contents, and delivery of arbitral award
- Section 33: Correction and interpretation of award; additional award
- Section 34(1), 34(2), 34(3): Application for setting aside arbitral award; limitation period
