The enforcement of a foreign arbitral award cannot be refused unless the opposing party proves any of the grounds under Section 48 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

ORDER:

1. The petitioner/Award Holder seeks execution of a Foreign Award dated 03.05.2022 for a sum of USD 443,310.47 (equivalent to INR 35,329,716.57) and £ 7,000 (equivalent to INR 638,487.97) along with interest of USD 9,235.63 (equivalent to INR 736,035.38) at pro-rata compoundable rates of interest.

2. The particulars of the reliefs prayed for are tabulated as part of the Execution Petition filed under Form No.53 as per Rule 141 (2) of The Civil Rules of Practice and Order XXI Rule 11 of The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

3. The petitioner has also filed several Interlocutory Applications for directions pending adjudication of the main Execution Petition. The details of these applications will be discussed later in the judgment.

4. The petitioner is a Shipping Company registered in Liberia and owner of the Vessel M.V. FROSSO K. The respondent/Award Debtor is a Company registered in India and provides shipping services for construction material, metals, minerals and chemicals.

5. The brief facts of the case are narrated below:

6. On 29.09.2021, the parties entered into a Fixture Recap for chartering the petitioner’s vessel to the respondent for a trip of 70 days via India and Madagascar or Mozambique. The vessel was delivered to the respondent on 30.09.2021 at Paradip Port, India. On 16.01.2022, the vessel was re-delivered to the petitioner at Passing Port Durban, South Africa. On 17.01.2022, the petitioner issued a Hire Statement until 16.01.2022 indicating that an amount of USD 443,384.53 was due. On 25.01.2022, the petitioner sent a letter to the respondent through their Lawyers requesting remittance of the amount due. On 27.01.2022, the respondent replied to the petitioner via an email confirming that the amount due to the petitioner was USD 443,310.47 and requested confirmation of the said amount. The petitioner confirmed the amount on the same day.

7. On 02.02.2022, the petitioner nominated Mr.Alan Oakley as the Arbitrator and invited the respondent to nominate its Arbitrator within 14 days. The invocation was made in accordance with the arbitration clause in the Charter Party. The respondent, however, failed to nominate its Arbitrator and proposed to settle the due amount which was rejected by the petitioner since the respondent’s offer was considerably lower than the petitioner’s claim. On 11.03.2022, the petitioner served their claim submission on the respondent.

8. On 13.04.2022, the Arbitrator sent an order via email directing the respondent to serve their defence submissions by 20.04.2022. The Arbitrator passed a final and peremptory order on 21.04.2022 directing the respondent to serve their defence submissions by 28.04.2022. The Arbitrator proceeded with the Arbitration on 02.05.2022 since the respondent failed to comply with the order and serve any defence submissions or correspond with the Arbitrator. None of the parties requested for an oral hearing. The Award was made on 03.05.2022 in favour of the petitioner directing the respondent to pay a sum of USD 443,310.47 along with interest and costs of arbitration and the Arbitrator’s costs of £ 7,000 along with interest. The petitioner sent an email to the respondent on 20.05.2022 seeking payment of the awarded amount. The responde