The Supreme Court has held that a court can extend an arbitral tribunal's mandate even after the statutory period for making an award has expired — and even after an award has been rendered in the meantime. A Bench of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Atul S Chandurkar gave the ruling on October 28 in South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd v India Power Corporation Ltd (2026 INSC 1165), Live Law and the text of the judgment report.
Source: Live Law
The Court said an application under Section 29A(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is not rendered non-maintainable merely because the time under Sections 29A(1) and 29A(3) has run out or an award has been passed during that time. If the mandate is extended, the tribunal will 'pick up the thread from where it was left' and continue from the stage at which the mandate expired, the Bench held, warning that a restrictive reading would force parties to restart proceedings despite the progress already made.
The Bench also settled who holds the extension power. It belongs to the 'court' defined in Section 2(1)(e) — ordinarily the principal civil court of original jurisdiction in the district, or a High Court exercising ordinary original civil jurisdiction. A High Court does not acquire that power merely because it appointed the arbitrator under Section 11, and the Patna High Court's contrary view in its September 15, 2023 judgment was set aside, Legal Republic reports.
Source: Legal Republic
Extension is not automatic, the Court clarified: the applicant must establish sufficient cause, and the court may impose appropriate conditions. In this case the Principal District Judge-cum-Commercial Court, Patna had already extended the sole arbitrator's mandate by six months on March 23, 2026, following the Supreme Court's direction of January 21, 2026 — so correcting the High Court's jurisdictional view did not disturb the arbitration.
The dispute arose from a distribution franchisee agreement dated December 31, 2013. The Bench found that South Bihar Power had consented to a sole arbitrator in 2018 and again in 2021 — when former Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra was appointed — had participated for years and filed counter-claims, and could not now insist on the three-member tribunal the agreement had promised. Both civil appeals were dismissed, the Court lifted its earlier restraint on declaration of the award, and directed the arbitrator to conclude the proceedings and pronounce the award within six weeks.
Businesses across India use arbitration to avoid long court battles. This ruling stops a finished or nearly finished arbitration from being thrown away only because a deadline lapsed — while also making clear which court parties must approach for more time.