JUDGMENT :

Moushumi Bhattacharya, J.

1. This is a composite application for extension of the mandate of the arbitral tribunal under section 29A (4) and (5) of The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and for exclusion of the time period from 14.07.2023 to 10.01.2024 for the purpose of determining whether the application has been made within the prescribed period under the 1996 Act.

2. The significance of these dates would be clear from the facts narrated after this. The parties have not disputed the dates.

3. The petitioner is the claimant in the arbitration. The mandate of the tribunal was extended by the consent of parties under section 29A(3) for six months till 14.07.2023. The order recording the consent given by the respondent under section 29A(3) is part of records. The order passed by the arbitral tribunal on 16.01.2023 records the respondent’s consent to extension of the mandate under section 29A(3) of the Act. The next order of the arbitral tribunal dated 1.05.2023 records the stand taken by the parties in the matter of filing an application before the appropriate forum for extension of the mandate.

4. The petitioner made an application before the Ld. District Judge, Asansol