M/S PARKASH INDUSTRIES, AHMEDGARH Vs. THE PUNJAB STATE COOPERATIVE SUPPLY AND MARKETING FEDERATION LTD. (MARKFED) SANGRUR AND ANOTHER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The objector is in appeal against the judgment dated 24.12.2011, rendered by the Additional District Judge, Sangrur, vide which, its objections under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (for short 'the Act') to the arbitral award dated 23.06.2004 were dismissed.

(2.) Briefly, the dispute is that vide arbitral award, dated 23.06.2004, the Arbitrator partly accepted the claim of respondent No. 1. Being aggrieved, the appellant-objector filed objections under Section 34 of the Act, which have since been dismissed vide impugned judgment, dated 24.12.2011, for, they were held to be barred by time. The reasons that forms basis of the impugned judgment is; that the objector was duly served and it still did not opt to participate in the arbitration proceedings was not vigilant enough to look-after his interest. Further, the arbitral award was rendered on 23.06.2004, and in terms of provisions of Sub-Section 3 of Section 34 the objections were required to be filed within three months from the said date. And even if the period of limitation was extended by another 30 days in terms of the proviso to Section 34, the objections filed by the objectors on 9.11.2005 were still barred by limitation;

(3.) Learned counsel for the appellant referred to the letters (Annexures A5 to A-8) appended with the appeal, that were exchanged between respondent No. 1 and the Arbitrator, and, contend that the objector had indeed received the copy of the award dated 23.06.2004, on 25.10.2005. Thus, from the receipt of the arbitral award, objections filed by the appellant on 9.11.2005, were well within limitation.