JUDGMENT :

Shekhar B. Saraf, J.

1. The instant application by the petitioner Union of India (hereinafter referred to as the ‘award debtor’) under Section 34 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) arises out of an arbitral award dated June 18, 2021 passed by the Arbitral Tribunal of Mr. Arunendra Kumar, Mr. Shahzad Shah and Mr. Mahesh Gupta (hereinafter referred to as the ‘impugned award’). The respondent is Premco-GPT (JV).

2. The petitioner also seeks the leave of this Court to condone the delay in filing the instant application.

Facts

3. I have mapped out the factual matrix of the present application below :

a. The petitioner invited open tender for “Earth work in cutting and embankment with mechanical compaction, supplying, spreading & compaction of stone dust blanketing, extension of existing Major and Minor bridges, construction of new P.F., P.F. Shed, FOB etc. in connection with doubling between station Dakshin Barasat (Km 41.78) and Lakshmikantapur (Km 61.46)”. The petitioner issued a letter of acceptance in relation to the said tender to the respondent on January 15, 2010. The original completion date for the said project was July 14, 2011, which was extended from time to time, with the last extension being up to April 15, 2015.

b. The petitioner short-closed the contract on July 9, 2015, by invoking Clause 61 of the General Conditions of Contract as the petitioner failed to provide land for the platform at Madhabpur station. Subsequently, disputes arose between the parties, and the respondent invoked arbitration on September 17, 2019, and sought for appointment of a departmental arbitrator. The General Manager of Eastern Railway referred the dispute to the arbitral tribunal vide its letter dated October 14, 2020.

c. The arbitral tribunal published an Award on June 18, 2021. It made an award for INR 1,35,66,116/-(One Crore Thirty-Five Lakhs Sixty Six Thousand One Hundred Sixteen Rupees Only) in favor of the respondent along with simple interest of 9% on the unpaid amount of the award.

d. The petitioner filed the instant application under Section 34 of the Act on June 30, 2022, after a delay of nearly 377 (Three Hundred Seventy-Seven) days.

Contentions

4. Mr. Indrajeet Dasgupta, counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner, has made the following averments in support of the maintainability of the instant application on grounds of limitation :

a. The counsel submits that in light of the Order of the Supreme Court in Suo Motu Writ Petition (C) No. 3 of 2020 passed on January 10, 2022, in Re: Cognizance For Extension of Limitation, the prescribed period of limitation for filing an application under Section 34 of the Act will begin from March 1, 2022.

b. The counsel submits that the delay in filing the instant application happened because the same was referred to the superior authorities for sanction of filing after the publication of the award. As per the counsel, after the sanction was accorded in April 2022, the matter was referred to the Ministry of Law and Justice. The counsel further submits that the Ministry of Law & Justice appointed him on April 27, 2022, and after such appointment, several meetings were held. As a result of the same, he submits that there is a delay of thirty days which needs to be condoned.

c. The counsel submits the following calculation of the limitation period: -

- Date of Award: June 18, 2021

- Date of Filing: June 30, 2022

- Total number of days (delay): 377

- Period to be excluded as per Judgment of Supreme Court Suo Moto Writ Petition (C) No. 3 of 2020 (March 15, 2020, to February 28, 2022) (June 18, 2021, to February 28, 2022, here): 256 Days

- The limitation period for filing Section 34 Application is 3 months. In the present case, Months of March, April and May 2022 (31 + 30 + 31): 92 Days

- Therefore, there is a delay of 29 (378-256-92) days which the Court can condone under proviso of Section 34 (3).

d. The counsel, in support of his contentions, cited the judg