Fair Deal Supplies Limited vs R. Piyarelall Iron And Steel Private Limited

This application has been made by the respondent in the Arbitration Petition/award holder for correction of the name of the petitioner as was

described by the Tribunal in its award dated 16th December, 2019. By the said award, the petitioner/award-debtor was described as “Fair Deal

Suppliers Pvt. Ltd.â€​ as opposed to “Fair Deal Supplies Ltd.â€​ The respondent was the claimant in the arbitration.

Learned counsel appearing for the respondent submits that the matter should be remitted to the Tribunal for correcting the name of the respondent as

appearing in the award. Counsel points to an order dated 9th November, 2020 of the Tribunal which noted the error but opined that this Court would

be the proper forum to give the relief to the respondent. Counsel further places an order passed by a Co-ordinate Bench on 7th December, 2020 in a

civil revisional application filed by the respondent which directed the respondent to approach the Court before which the application under Section 34

is pending. An order has also been placed by the Co-ordinate Bench dated 22nd February, 2021 by which the execution case filed by the respondent

was dismissed on the ground that the error appearing on the face of the award had not been corrected.

Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner/award-debtor resists the prayers in the application on the ground that Section 34(4) is concerned with a

Court remitting the matter to the Arbitrators for eliminating the grounds taken in an application for setting aside the award. Counsel submits that the

present matter cannot be remitted to the Tribunal only for correction of the cause title of the award and the petitioner’s name in particular.

Counsel submits that the petitioner has not taken any ground in the Section 34 application concerning the name of the respondent as appearing in the

award.

Upon hearing counsel, this Court is of the view that there is no necessity of referring to any decision on the scope of Section 34(4) which is clear as it

is from the statute itself.

Since the issue involves a mere typographical error by which the respondent’s name appearing in the award was wrongly stated, the Court can

step in to correct such error. Such a correction will not result in any prejudice to the petitioner/award-debtor. The application is outside the purview of

Section 34(4) since it is not the respondent’s case that the matter needs to be heard by the Tribunal for eliminating the grounds for setting aside

the award. Although the present application has been incorrectly presented and conceived of, the Court can direct correction of the error in the

award. The name of the petitioner in the Arbitration Petition shall accordingly be corrected from “Fair Deal Suppliers Pvt. Ltd.†to “Fair Deal

Supplies Ltd.â€​ in the award dated 16th December, 2019.

The concerned department is directed to carry out the correction as indicated above. The petitioner/award-debtor shall also be at liberty to make

necessary corrections to the extent of the present order in its application for setting aside the award, if required. The petitioner/ award-debtor shall

also be at liberty to take this point as a ground of challenge in the Section 34 application, if permitted by law.

GA/2/2021 is disposed of in terms of the above.