Court cannot modify an award under Section 34 of the Arbitration Act

Citation

AIR 2021 SC 3471

AIR online 2021 SC 358

Whether the Court can modify an award under Section 34 of the Arbitration Act?

National Highway Authority of India v. M.Hakeem (Judgment dated 20.07.2021 in SLP (CIVIL) NO.13020 OF 2020)

The Supreme Court held that the court under Section 34 could only affirm or set aside the arbitral award, there is no power vested in the court to modify an award while exercising jurisdiction under Section 34. The court relied on the judgment in McDermott International Inc. v. Burn Standard Co. Ltd, to observe that power under Section 34 does not extend to modifying Arbitral errors. The legislative intent of minimal interference is clear in terms of Section 34(4) which permits the court to adjourn the proceedings and give the arbitral tribunal a chance to eliminate the grounds for setting aside the award. Further, it held that modifying an award under Section 34 would amount to crossing the ‘Lakshman Rekha