In Brief
Two brothers, Anilkumar and Pravinchandra Patel, had agreed to arbitrate the partition of their joint family business assets through an arbitration dated 07.07.1996. Anilkumar received and signed the award on behalf of himself and his family members. Over nine years later, in 2005, Anilkumar challenged the award, claiming his family members had not individually received it and the limitation period should start from 2005. The Supreme Court held that Anilkumar, as the authorized family head, had validly received the award on behalf of all family members under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996; therefore, the three-month limitation period commenced from 1996. The petition filed in 2005 was time-barred. The Court dismissed the appeal, affirming the High Court's judgment.
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