15 March 2021| Coal India Ltd. v. Hyderabad Industries Ltd. | AP No. 99 of 2009 | Moushumi Bhattacharya | 2021 SCC OnLine Mad 1126

The court has ruled that under Section 34 (4) ACA, the court can adjourn the set-aside proceedings to enable the arbitral tribunal only to eliminate the grounds for setting aside and not reconsider the matter.

In this case, one of the grounds of challenge was that the award did not contain any reasons. However, the award-holder had made the application eleven years after the set-aside petition was filed, and thirteen years had passed overall. Therefore, it was relevant to consider if the arbitrator could furnish reasons and make the award withstand the challenge without hearing the parties again. The court answered no.

Also, held, though Section 34 (4) does not state a time limit, the overall objective of Section 34 (4) had to be kept in mind.