In Brief
The Supreme Court held that the period of limitation for filing objections to an arbitral award under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 runs from the date the signed copy of the award is delivered to the parties, not from the date of oral pronouncement. A dissenting opinion by a minority arbitrator is not an 'award' for limitation purposes. Signing the award is mandatory, not ceremonial. In this case, although the majority award was pronounced on 27 April 2018, the signed copy was delivered only on 19 May 2018. The appellant's objections filed on 10 September 2018 were therefore within the three-month deadline. The Court set aside orders dismissing the petition on limitation grounds and remitted the case for decision on merits.",
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