The Cost Of A Missing Signature In An Arbitral Award

Section 31 (1) and (2) of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act 1996 ("Act") mandates an arbitral award to be signed by all the members of the arbitral tribunal or at the very least be signed by the majority of the members of the arbitral tribunal while providing reasons for any omitted signature.

Recently¹ the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi dealt with the issue whether an Arbitral Award is liable to be set aside if it is signed by two out of three arbitrators in the absence of any explanation in the Award regarding the missing signature of the third arbitrator. By setting aside the award, the Court reaffirmed that procedural safeguards under the Act are not expendable in the name of expediency. It affirms that even within the flexible contours of arbitral autonomy, the criterion of procedural legitimacy must be maintained.