ORAL JUDGMENT

(Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJEEV RANJAN PRASAD)

Date : 06-01-2026

Heard Mr. Alok Kumar Agrawal, learned counsel for the appellant and Mr. Manish Sahay, learned counsel for the claimant-respondent.

2. The present appeal has been preferred for setting aside the order dated 04.07.2024 passed by learned District Judge, Saran at Chapra (hereinafter ‘the learned court’) in Miscellaneous Arbitration Case No. 05 of 2022 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘impugned order’).

3. By the impugned order, the learned court has been pleased to reject the application preferred by the appellant under Section 34 (1) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act of 1996’ or ‘1996 Act’) challenging the part of the arbitral award dated 12.05.2022 and additional award dated 08.08.2022. The dismissal of the application is solely based on the ground of limitation.

4. The learned court took a view that as per Section 34 (3) of the Act of 1996, the maximum period of limitation for filing an application for setting aside an award is three months, delay may be condoned only for a period of 30 days, but not thereafter. The learned court found that the arbitral