ON February 19, 2025, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court reserved judgement in Gayatri Balasamy v. ISG Novasoft Technologies Ltd on whether courts have the power to modify an arbitral award under Sections 34 and 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
Section 34 of the Act provides the mechanism to set aside an arbitral award in the court. It lays down certain grounds such as the agreement being invalid, the tribunal lacking jurisdiction, or the agreement violating the public policy. However, the provision does not allow the court to go into the merits of the award.
Section 37 of the Act provides for the appeals against certain orders made under the Act. It allows the aggrieved party to appeal with issues related to the enforcement of arbitral award or interim protection under Section 9 of the Arbitration Act. However, the scope of Section 37 is limited as it only provides a set of categories of decisions which can be appealed. Both of these Sections reflect the idea of the Act of minimum court intervention and expediting the dispute resolution process.
