This refers to M J Antony’s column “Arbitration in the doldrums” (Out of Court, January 23). A clause in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Section 31) specifies that costs should be reasonable, relating to all expenditure incurred in settlement of disputes, including the arbitrator’s remuneration. Normally, the arbitrator’s fee is mentioned in the appointment order itself and, in the absence of agreement to the said fee fixed by the arbitrator, the intervention of the court is permissible and can be availed of by any party by moving an application in the court. Regarding the limitation of time in issuing the award, the 1940 Act (Section 28) prescribes that the award should be made in time as per the order of the court, and any enlargement of time needs permission. However, in the 1996 Act, nothing has been laid down on the limitation of time. But in the order of the court, a time limitation is mentioned. The extension of time and fee is fixed with the consent of both parties.
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