NATIONAL HIGHWAY AUTHORITY OF INDIA Vs. PARIMAL BAJPAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The competent authority zmined the compensation amount liable to be paid to the claimants by award dtd. 27/8/2020. The Arbitral Tribunal was constituted under Sec. 3-G(5) of the National Highway Authority of India Act, 1988. The appellant before this Court as well as the respondent-claimant preferred objections against the said award before the Arbitrator. The Arbitral Tribunal while drawing its award neglected to consider the objections raised by the appellant and made the final determination solely on the footing of the objections tendered by the respondents-claimants. Thus, aggrieved, the appellants took out proceedings under Sec. 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996(hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') before the learned District Judge which came to be registered as Arbitration Case No. 17 of 2022 (National Highway Authority of India vs. Parimal Bajpai and Others).

(2.) In the aforesaid proceedings, the case of the appellants before the Court below was that the challenge to the compensation determined by the competent authority was specifically made by the NHAI before the Arbitrator. The Arbitrator failed to make any finding on the objections raised by the appellants/ petitioners and the arbitral award dtd. 27/8/2020 was passed while the said application remained pending in Case No. C202103000000613. A ground in regard to the aforesaid illegality which vitiates the arbitral award was taken in the proceedings under Sec. 34 of the Act registered as Arbitration Case No. 17 of 2022 (National Highway Authority of India vs. Parimal Bajpai and Others) before the learned court below. The relevant pleadings are extracted hereunder:

(3.) The learned court below did not advert to the said grounds and no finding in this regard was made in the impugned order dtd. 27/8/2020 rendered by the court below while deciding the said Arbitration Case No. 17 of 2022 (National Highway Authority of India vs. Parimal Bajpai and Others). These are the undisputed facts of the case.