Summary
The Court restored arbitral awards accepting composite measurement of embankments made with soil and fly ash or pond ash. The tribunals’ technically informed contractual interpretation was plausible, so the High Court could not substitute its preferred interpretation. The Court also explained why a dissenting opinion cannot ordinarily be converted into an award when the majority award is set aside.
Issues
- Whether courts could displace the tribunals’ interpretation of the embankment measurement clauses under Sections 34 and 37.
- Whether setting aside a majority award permits treating the dissenting opinion as the award.
Provisions considered
- Sections 34 and 37, Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996The limited jurisdiction to interfere with an award did not permit fresh appellate interpretation of the contract to displace the tribunals’ plausible view of composite measurement. (¶¶ 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
Held
- The contract provided for measuring the completed embankment by cross-sections before and after construction. Treating the compacted soil and ash embankment as a composite whole was a plausible interpretation supported by the technical tribunals and dispute boards. (¶¶ 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22)
- Contractual interpretation primarily belongs to the arbitrator. Courts exercising jurisdiction under Sections 34 and 37 cannot replace a reasonable interpretation with their own merely because another view is possible; intervention remains confined to the recognised limited grounds, including perversity or patent illegality. (¶¶ 21, 22, 23, 24)
- A dissenting opinion does not become the award merely because the majority award is set aside. It has not undergone the scrutiny directed at the majority award and cannot appropriately be elevated into the tribunal’s binding findings. The exceptional use of Article 142 in Ssangyong was distinguished. (¶¶ 25, 26, 27)
Result
All five appeals allowed; challenged High Court judgments set aside and awards restored to the extent set aside. Compounded monthly interest directions modified to uniform 12% interest on the embankment amounts due, from award to payment; NHAI to pay within eight weeks. No costs.