Arbitral Tribunal cannot recall or modify its award under Section 33 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 – National Highways Authority of India Vs. Musafir and Others – Allahabad High Court
Hon’ble Allahabad High Court held that:
(i) None of provisions of Arbitration Act, give arbitral tribunal the power to recall and modify its award. Arbitral tribunals are not courts of law which are bestowed with inherent powers. Arbitrators are required to act within the confines of the arbitration agreement, and the framework enshrined in the Arbitration Act. Any act which the arbitral tribunal is not empowered to do under the Arbitration Act is void ab initio.
(ii) The authority of arbitral tribunals to correct, interpret, or supplement their awards does not extend to revisiting the merits of the dispute or reconsidering substantive issues that have already been decided. Arbitral tribunals are bound by the principle of functus officio, which holds that once an award has been rendered, the tribunal’s jurisdiction over the dispute is terminated, and it lacks authority to revisit or modify its decision in absence of specific statutory provisions to the contrary.