In Brief
In a property dispute stemming from the division of inherited assets among eight legal heirs, an arbitration award was made but challenged late by some parties. They sought to excuse their delay by claiming fraud—that the other party had entered into a side agreement with them and delayed fulfilling it, preventing timely action. The Supreme Court held that Section 17 of the Limitation Act (which extends the limitation period when fraud conceals a party's legal right) does not apply to applications challenging arbitral awards under Section 34(3) of the Arbitration Act. Once an award is received, the three-month (extendable to 120-day) deadline is fixed and unbreakable, regardless of subsequent fraud. The Court upheld the integrity of finality in arbitral awards.
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