Bombay High Court: arbitration challenge deadline runs from actual receipt of the signed award, not a later 'publication'

Dismissing a Section 34 petition by the Union of India (Central Railway) to set aside a Rs. 2.46 crore arbitral award in favour of Inspirisys Solutions Ltd. over a ticket-vending-machine maintenance contract, the Bombay High Court (Justice N. J. Jamadar) held that the three-month limitation period under Section 34(3) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 runs from the date a party actually receives a signed copy of the award under Section 31(5), not from any later, formal 're-publication' of the award after arbitration fees are paid. The Union of India argued that limitation should run only from 11 July 2023, when it received the award after paying outstanding fees, which would have made its 5 September 2023 petition timely.

The Court found, from the record, that the Union of India had in fact received a signed copy of the award as early as 24 March 2023. Since the petition was filed well beyond three months plus the thirty-day condonable period measured from that date, it was dismissed as time-barred, though the funds already deposited under an earlier interim order were allowed to remain for four more weeks.