In Brief
National Highways Authority of India and Gayatri Jhansi Roadways Limited had a 2006 contract specifying arbitrator fees based on NHAI policy. When disputes arose in 2017, the arbitral tribunal attempted to apply the Fourth Schedule of the 2015 Arbitration and Conciliation Act instead. The High Court initially agreed, but the Supreme Court held that expressly agreed fee structures in contracts govern, not statutory schedules. The Court found that deletion of 'unless otherwise agreed' in Section 31A concerned award costs only, not arbitrator remuneration. The Court set aside the High Court's judgment, allowed the appeal, and directed the arbitrators to proceed, permitting fees under the updated 2017 NHAI policy rather than the statutory schedule.
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