Order Refusing To Condone Delay In Filing Section 34 Petition Appealable Under Section 37 Of The Arbitration And Conciliation Act, 1996

The Hon'ble Supreme Court in its recent judgment Chintels India Ltd. v. Bhayana Builders Pvt. Ltd.¹ settled the debate around the question, 'whether an order refusing to condone the delay in filing an application under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ("Act") is an appealable order under Section 37 (1) (c) of the Act'.

Background

The Ld. Single Judge of the High Court of Delhi, dismissed an application filed by Chintels India Ltd. ("Appellant") for the condonation of delay in filing its petition under Section 34 of Act. While dismissing the application for condonation of delay, the High Court held that sub-section 3 of Section 34, using the words "but not thereafter" restricts the power to condone delay beyond a period of 30 (thirty) days. To arrive at this conclusion, the High Court drew support from earlier precedents² on the issue and held that the instant case was time-barred and refused to condone the delay while setting aside the