Glowsun Powergen Private Limited Vs Hammond Power Solutions Private Limited (May 2024)

 Arbitration proceedings between the parties was commenced on 2021 and the submission of pleadings were completed by June 2022. And hence the petitioner who initiated the proceedings requested for extension of time before the Delhi High Court.

 Whereas the Respondent alleged that as per Section 29A of the A&C Act, the 12-month period to complete the Arbitration proceedings expired on 21.06.2023. Also, the 6-month extension granted on 31.08.2023 expired on 21.12.2023. And objected that the Petitioner’s delay made it impossible to complete the arbitration process by 29.02.2024.

 The Court observed the following:

📝 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒍. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕, 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 “𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆‟ 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 29𝑨(5) 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒄𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅.

📝 Though the delay as alleged against the petitioner is not appreciated, yet since the parties and the learned Arbitrator have already invested huge efforts, it would not be advisable to make it futile by not extending the mandate.

✍ However, this court directs the parties to not to cause any delay and the Arbitrator is also requested to expedite the proceedings.

Accordingly, the present petition is allowed and the mandate of the Arbitral Tribunal is extended till 31.12.2024.