JUDGMENT :

DHANANJAYA Y. CHANDRACHUD, J.

1. This appeal arises from a judgment dated 26 February 2020 of the High Court of Delhi by which the appeal under Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996¹ [“The Act”] against a judgment of the Single Judge dated 7 February 2019 has been dismissed. At the core, the issue is whether the arbitrator has the discretion to grant post-award interest only on the principal sum due under Section 31(7)(b) of the Act.

Facts

2. On 27 January 2003, the appellant and the respondent entered into an agreement under which the respondent availed of bill discounting facilities from the appellant. The appellant disbursed Rs. 5,00,32,656 pursuant to the agreement. The dues remained unpaid. The appellant issued a notice to the respondent on 10 January 2006 demanding the payment of the principal amount of Rs. 5,00,32,656 as on 17 April 2003, which is the date of default, along with an overdue interest. Since the respondent did not pay the amount as demanded, the appellant issued a notice on 31 January 2006, invoking the arbitration clause of the agreement.

3. The sole arbitrator rendered an arbitral award in favour of the appellant on 1 March 2013. The a