Arbitral award 

It is a final determination of a claim or a part of it or a counter-claim awarded by the arbitral tribunal. It must be written and duly signed by the members of the arbitral tribunal as given under Section 31 of the Act. The Section further gives the power to the tribunal to make interim awards for any matter. In case of payment of money, it can award the interest which seems reasonable, just and fair to the tribunal. 

Section 32 of the Act empowers the arbitral tribunal to terminate the proceedings by making a final arbitral award. The procedure for any correction in the award or its interpretation is given under Section 33 of the Act. It also gives the power to the tribunal or the arbitrator to amend, correct or remove any errors of any kind within 30 days but is silent on judicial review. The tribunals cannot exercise their jurisdiction beyond whatever has been mentioned in this section. 

Types of arbitral awards

1. Interim award – It is the determination of any issue arising out of the main dispute. It is a temporary arrangement to satisfy a party and is subject to the final award. 
2. Additional award – According to Section 33 of the Act, if the parties find that certain claims have been missed out by the arbitral tribunal and they were present in the proceedings then it can after notifying other parties, make a request to the arbitral tribunal to make an additional award and cover the claims which have been left. 
3. Settlement awards – It is made if the parties agree on certain terms of the settlement. As per Section 30 of the Act, the arbitral tribunal may use any method of dispute resolution like mediation, conciliation or negotiation to bring a settlement between the parties. 
4. Final award – It is an award which finally determines all the issues in a dispute. It is conclusive unless set aside by courts and binding on the parties. 

Recourse against arbitral awards

Under Section 34 of the Act, a party if not satisfied can make an application to set aside the award granted by an arbitral tribunal. The time limit to make such an application is not more than 3 months from the date the arbitral award was made. The grounds are:

• Incapacity of parties.
• Non-existence of the agreement of arbitration.
• Did not follow the due process. 
• Error on the part of the arbitral tribunal to exercise its jurisdiction. 
• Improper composition of the arbitral tribunal.
• The subject matter is not capable of being referred to arbitration. 
• It is against public policy. 
• Fraud or corruption.

Section 37 of the Act provides that if a person is not satisfied with the order passed by the tribunal, he/she can appeal to the court.  However, there are no provisions for a second appeal once an appeal has been made. In the case of Pandey and Co. Builders Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Bihar (2007), it was held that the appellate authority in any case which is referred to arbitration must be decided from the definition of court given under Section 2 of the Act.

src: Source of the notes