Sujata V. Manohar,; S.P. Kurdukar and; D.P. Wadhwa, JJ.
1. On 13-4-1972, the Munsif's Court in the City of Kanpur passed the following order in an application under Section 20 of the Arbitration Act:
“The application is allowed. Let the dispute between the parties be referred to the named Arbitrator Shri S.S. Dixit, Advocate who shall make, sign and file the award in the court within four months in accordance with law.”
2. The award which has been given by the arbitrator on 19-11-1973 records that the order of the court referring the disputes to him for arbitration was received by him on 28-8-1973. The minutes of the arbitration proceedings are also filed. The minutes also show that the order of reference was received by the arbitrator on 28-8-1973. Thereafter on 4-9-1973, the arbitrator issued notice for filing the pleadings. The minutes show that the written statement was filed on 8-11-1973. The further hearings which took place thereafter are also mentioned in the minutes. The award is dated 9-11-1973. It was filed in the court on 19-12-1973. The award has been set aside on the ground that the award was not made within four months from the date of the Munsif's order making a reference to arbitration.
3. The reference, in the present case, was made under Section 20 of the Arbitration Act. Section 20 (5) of the Act provides as follows:
“20. (5) Thereafter the arbitration shall proceed in accordance with, and shall be governed by, the other provisions of this Act so far as they can be made applicable.”
4. Section 3 of the Arbitration Act prescribes that an arbitration agreement unless a different intention is expressed therein, shall be deemed to include the provisions set out in the First Schedule insofar as they are applicable to the reference. The First Schedule would therefore apply to these arbitration proceedings. Condition 3 of the First Schedule provides that the arbitrators shall make their award within four months after entering on the reference or after having been called upon to act by notice in writing from any party to the arbitration agreement or within such extended time as the court may allow. The order, therefore, of the Munsif directing that the award shall be signed and filed in court within four months in accordance with law would mean that the award should be signed and filed within four months of the arbitrator entering on the reference or within four months of having been called upon to act by notice in writing from any party to the arbitration agreement. In the present case, the arbitrator has signed and filed the award in court within four months of the receipt of the order of reference. Even assuming the date of receipt as the date of entering upon the reference for our present purpose, the award is within time. The impugned order is, therefore, set aside and the appeal is allowed.