UOI Vs. A R KHANNA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal is directed against the judgment of the learned Single Judge in C.S.(OS) No.42-A/1998 which arose out of the proceedings for making an arbitral award the Rule of the Court. The claimant/contractor had filed objections to the Award, made by the Arbitrator on 22.08.1997 in respect of dispute which arose on account of works awarded to the claimant, on 07.11.1998.

(2.) LEARNED Arbitrator i.e.Justice D.R.Khanna (Retd.) considered all the claims and by the award, directed payment of rs.6,84,822/-.

(3.) THIS court recalls the role of the Court, in considering the petitions under Section 30 and 33 of the (now repealed) Arbitration Act 1940 and is of the view that the extent of power is extremely limited. It is not every error of fact or law which can be revisited by the court; only those which are apparent on the face of the record or are egregious and obvious, can be taken into consideration and cured. In this case, after a complete and exhaustive analysis of the record (which included appreciation of the statements of the claimant) the learned Single Judge had concluded that the Arbitrator omitted to include the sum of rs.1,25,487/- which was reflected in the final bill and statement (as is evident from para 16 of the judgment). Having regard to the extremely narrow and limited appellate reviews which is in a sense twice removed from the power of the court to re-appreciate the findings of the Award we are unpersuaded that the view or opinion taken by the learned Single judge is of such a character that calls for an interference. Even a second opinion, in this regard, is not called for.