India's Supreme Court Affirms Post-Award Extension of Arbitrator Mandate

India's Supreme Court has confirmed courts can extend an arbitrator’s mandate after an award is issued.

India’s Supreme Court has clarified a longstanding ambiguity in the country’s arbitration regime: courts can extend an arbitrator’s mandate even after an award has been passed beyond the statutory timeframe.

• In C. Velusamy v. K. Indhera, three agreements led to arbitration overseen by a sole arbitrator appointed by the Madras High Court on April 19, 2022.
• Pleadings ended by August 20, 2022, starting a 12-month clock under Section 29A(1) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The parties mutually extended the deadline to February 20, 2024, under Section 29A(3).
• The arbitrator delivered the award on May 11, 2024, after the lapse of the extended mandate, prompting a challenge that the award was void.

The respondent moved under Section 34, attacking the validity of the award. The appellant applied for a retrospective extension of the arbitrator’s mandate in November 2024, but the High Court dismissed the request and set aside the award in early 2025.

On appeal, the Supreme Court held that “an application under Section 29A(5) for extension of the mandate of the arbitrator is maintainable even after the expiry of the time... and even after rendering of an award during that time,” as stated by Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha. The Court further distinguished that such an award is unenforceable unless the mandate is extended but is not automatically void.

This precedent aligns Indian arbitration more closely with international standards, placing renewed emphasis on judicial oversight to preserve the efficiency and finality of arbitration—critical for both domestic and cross-border matters.