DMD Advocates Represents Oyo Apartments Investments LLP as Delhi High Court Dismisses Petition for Extension of Arbitral Tribunal’s Mandate After Award
The leading law firm in India, DMD Advocates, represented Oyo Apartments Investments LLP in successfully opposing a petition seeking extension of the arbitral tribunal’s mandate after the pronouncement of the award, reinforcing the firm’s strong track record in arbitration and dispute resolution.
The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition filed under Section 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, seeking an extension of the mandate of the arbitral tribunal after the arbitral award had already been delivered in O.M.P. (MISC.) (COMM.) 115/2025 Desire Infrabuild Pvt. Ltd. v. Oyo Apartments Investments LLP. The Court addressed the issue of whether such a petition is maintainable once the arbitral tribunal has already pronounced its award.
The petitioner relied on earlier Delhi High Court decisions, particularly Chandok Machineries v. S.N. Sunderson & Co., to contend that the Court could extend the tribunal’s mandate even after the award was passed. However, the respondent argued, and the Court agreed, that later judgments—especially the Supreme Court’s ruling in Rohan Builders (India) (P) Ltd. v. Berger Paints India Ltd. and subsequent Delhi High Court decisions such as National Skill Development Corpn. v. Best First Step Education (P) Ltd. (2024)—have clarified that an application under Section 29A is maintainable only when arbitral proceedings are pending, i.e., before the award is delivered.
The Court held that once an award is pronounced, the arbitral tribunal becomes functus officio, leaving no scope for retrospective validation of its mandate. The judgment distinguished earlier views and emphasized that Section 29A is intended to ensure timely completion of arbitral proceedings, preventing parties from seeking extensions after knowing the outcome of the award. In this case, the petitioner filed the application after the award had been delivered and even after a Section 34 challenge had been filed, making the petition belated and impermissible. Accordingly, the Court dismissed the petition for extension of the arbitral tribunal’s mandate after the pronouncement of the award.
Oyo Apartments Investments LLP was represented by Advocate Dr. Amit George and DMD Advocates, led by Chaitanya Kaushik, Avinash K Singh, Saurabh Pal, Seema Mehta, Vidhi Uppal, and Dushyant Kaul.
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