IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 2928 OF 2010 (Arising out of SLP(C) No. 3937 of 2009)
State of Maharashtra Versus M/s. Hindustan Construction Company Ltd
R.M. Lodha, J.
whether in an appeal under Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (for short `1996 Act') from an order refusing to set aside the award, an amendment in the memorandum of appeal to raise additional/new grounds can be permitted. answer NO
The Supreme Court (SC) last week dismissed the appeal of Maharashtra against the order of the Bombay high court in an arbitration dispute with Hindustan Construction Company Ltd. The company was given Stage IV of the Koyna Hydro Electric Project and differences arose over the amounts due and other issues. The disputes were referred to arbitration under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. The award was against the state and told to pay Rs 17 crore with interest. The government’s appeal was dismissed by the Ratnagiri district judge. It moved the high court, with additional grounds for opposing the award. The high court did not allow the new grounds. It appealed to the SC. It dismissed the appeal stating the government could not add new grounds to oppose the award after failing in the original petition. The judgement said: “New grounds containing new material/facts could not be introduced for the first time in an appeal when admittedly these grounds were not originally raised in the arbitration petition for setting aside the award.”
SOURCE:http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=390800
