Case Comment : Undue Delay in Passing Arbitral Award as a Ground for Challenge?

Three recent judgements of the Delhi High Court deal with the issue as to whether long delay by the arbitral tribunal in passing the arbitral award is sufficient reason for setting aside the award. Delay per se should not be a ground for setting aside the award. The parties should approach the tribunal first and in case the tribunal fails to pass the award within reasonable time, the parties should approach the court under § 14 of the 1996 Act for termination of the tribunal's mandate. Further, the prevailing legal position that awards passed long after the conclusion of hearings long where delay leads to patent illegality or results in the award being contrary to the public policy of India are liable to be set aside is nothing but a test to examine if such awards are contrary to the public policy of India