Section Text
In this Chapter "foreign award" means an arbitral award on differences relating to matters considered as commercial under the law in force in India made after the 28th day of July, 1924,
(a) in pursuance of an agreement for arbitration to which the Protocol set forth in the Second Schedule applies, and
(b) between persons of whom one is subject to the jurisdiction of some one of such Powers as the Central Government, being satisfied that reciprocal provisions have been made, may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be parties to the Convention set forth in the Third Schedule, and of whom the other is subject to the jurisdiction of some other of the Powers aforesaid, and
(c) in one of such territories as the Central Government, being satisfied that reciprocal provisions have been made, may, by like notification, declare to be territories to which the said Convention applies, and for the purposes of this Chapter an award shall not be deemed to be final if any proceedings for the purpose of contesting the validity of the award are pending in the country in which it was made
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Section 54 - Power of judicial authority to refer parties to arbitration
Notwithstanding anything contained in Part I or in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), a judicial authority, on being seized of a dispute regarding a contract made between persons to whom section 53 applies and including an arbitration agreement, whether referring to present or further differences, which is valid under that section and capable of being carried into effect, shall refer the parties on the application of either of them or any person claiming through or under him to the decision of the arbitrators and such reference shall not prejudice the competence of the judicial authority in case the agreement or the arbitration cannot proceed or becomes inoperative
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Section 55 - Foreign awards when binding
Any foreign award which would be enforceable under this Chapter shall be treated as binding for all purposes on the persons as between whom it was made, and may accordingly be relied on by any of those persons by way of defence, set off or otherwise in any legal proceedings in India and any references in this Chapter to enforcing a foreign award shall be construed as including references to relying on an award
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Section 56 - Evidence
(1) The party applying for the enforcement of a foreign award shall, at the time of application procedure before the Court
(a) the original award or a copy thereof duly authenticated in the manner required by the law of the country in which it was made;
(b) evidence proving that the award has become final; and
(c) such evidence as may be necessary to prove that the conditions mentioned in clauses (a) and (c) of sub
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section (1) of section 57 are satisfied
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(2) Where any document requiring to be produced under sub
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section (1) is in a foreign language, the party seeking to enforce the award shall produce a translation into English certified as correct by a diplomatic or consular agent of the country to which that party belongs or certified as correct in such other manner as may be sufficient according to the law in force in India
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Explanation
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In this section and all the following sections of this Chapter, "Court" means the principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction in a district, and includes the High Court in exercise of its ordinary original civil jurisdiction, having jurisdiction over the subject
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matter of the award if the same had been the subject matter of a suit, but does not include any civil court of a grade inferior to such principal Civil Court, or any Court of Small Causes
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Section 57 - Conditions for enforcement of foreign awards
(1) In order that a foreign award may be enforceable under this Chapter, it shall be necessary that
(a) the award has been made in pursuance of a submission to arbitration which is valid under the law applicable thereto;
(b) the subject
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matter of the award is capable of settlement by arbitration under the law of India;
(c) the award has been made by the arbitral tribunal provided for in the submission to arbitration or constituted in the manner agreed upon by the parties and in conformity with the law governing the arbitration procedure;
(d) the award has become final in the country in which it has been made, in the sense that it will not be considered as such if it is open to opposition or appeal or if it is proved that any proceedings for the purpose of contesting the validity of the award the pending;
(e) the enforcement of the award is not contrary to the public policy or the law of India
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Explanation
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Without prejudice to the generality of clause (e), it is hereby declared, for the avoidance, of any doubt, that an award is in conflict with the public policy of India if the making of the award was induced or affected by fraud or corruption
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(2) Even if the conditions laid down in sub
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section (1) are fulfilled, enforcement of the award shall be refused if the Court is satisfied that
(a) the award has been annulled in the country in which it was made;
(b) the party against whom it is sought to use the award was not given notice of the arbitration proceedings in sufficient time to enable him to present his case; or that, being under a legal incapacity, he was not properly represented;
(c) the award does not deal with the differences contemplated by or falling within the terms of the submission to arbitration or that it contains decisions on matters beyond the scope for the submission or arbitration;
Provided that if the award has not covered all the differences submitted to the arbitral tribunal, the Court may, if it thinks fit, postpone such enforcement or grant it subject to such guarantee as the Court may decide
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(3) If the party against whom the award has been made proves that under the law governing the arbitration procedure there is a ground, other than the grounds referred to in clauses (a) and (c) of sub
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section (1) and clauses (b) and (c) of sub
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section (2) entitling him to contest the validity of the award, the Court may, if it thinks fit, either refuse enforcement of the award or adjourn the consideration thereof, giving such party a reasonable time within which to have the award annulled by the competent tribunal
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Section 58 - Enforcement of foreign awards
Where the Court is satisfied that the foreign award is enforceable under this Chapter, the award shall be deemed to be a decree of the Court
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Section 59 - Appealable orders
(1) An appeal shall lie from theorder refusing
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(a) to refer the parties to arbitrationunder section 54: and
(b) to enforce a foreign awardunder section 57, to the court authorised by law to hear appeals from suchorder.
(2) No second appeal shall liefrom an order passed in appeal under this section, but nothing in this sectionshall affect or take away any right to appeal to the Supreme Court
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Section 60 - Saving
Nothing in this Chapter shall prejudice any rights which any person would have had of enforcing in India of any award or of availing himself in India of any award if this Chapter had not been enacted
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ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION ACT, 1996