Deemed delivery of Arbitral Award under Section 31(5) of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 can be presumed by the Court by applying Section 3(1)(b) – Avdhesh Mittal Vs. Deepak Vig – Delhi High Court
Hon’ble High Court held that:
(i) In this manner, Section 3 would cover written communications via which the arbitral awards are ‘delivered’ to the parties under Section 31(5).
(ii) Since ‘delivery’ of arbitral award is a substantive right of the parties to the arbitration, it cannot be undermined by a cavalier approach. A party claiming deemed delivery under Section 31(5) read with Section 3(1)(b), must establish beyond doubt that there is no reason to assume that the service could not have been effected, despite complying with the conditions prescribed under Section 3(1)(b).
(iii) The presumption of deemed service drawn under Section 3 of the A&C Act is not cast in stone that it can’t be erased. It is easily shakeable or rebuttable since delivery of arbitral award under Section 31(5) is a substantive right that the parties enjoy. If a party against whom presumption is drawn is able to establish that the written communication could not have been delivered even after fulfilling the conditions under Section 3, the presumption stands rebutted.
