Section 29-A of The Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (A&C Act), was introduced by virtue of the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 to provide a ‘time-limit for an arbitral award’ as there had been growing demands to bring forward this amendment on account of delay in proceedings.
Time Limit under section 29A of the A&C Act, 1996
In a recent case of the High Court of Delhi, while granting an extension of time for the completion of arbitral proceedings in a dispute, the court held that the 2019 Amendment to Section 29A of the A&C Act is procedural in nature and applies to all arbitrations that were pending on the date of its coming into force. The amendment changed the time limit for rendering an award, which was previously calculated from the date of the arbitrator entering reference, but is now calculated from the date of completion of proceedings. This period of twelve months is extendable by a further period of six months upon the consent of the parties.
Retrospective applicability to all pending Arbitrations
The Court also held that the 2019 amendment to Section 29A of the A&C also applied retrospectively to all pending arbitrations. Moreover, the Delhi High Court also reiterated the position of law that any change or amendment to substantive laws affecting the rights and liabilities of a party or imposing a disability thereof will be prospective in nature, and any change/amendment to the provisions of the statute dealing merely with matters of procedure or procedural laws will be retrospective in nature unless there exists a contrary intention of the legislature regarding the same.
The issue regarding International Commercial Arbitrations
Determining the issue with regard to international commercial arbitrations, the High Court noted that by the 2019 Amendment to Section 29A (1) of the A&C Act, the time period for making an arbitral award in international commercial arbitration has been made inapplicable, and thus, there is no strict timeline of 12 months prescribed to the proceedings which are in nature of international commercial arbitration as defined under the Act, seated in India.
