M/S OSWAL WOOLLEN MILLS LTD.versusM/S OSWAL AGRO MILLS LTD.

1062                      [2018]REPORTS
                SUPREME COURT   3 S.C.R. 1062               [2018] 3 S.C.R.


 A                   M/S OSWAL WOOLLEN MILLS LTD.
                                         v.
                        M/S OSWAL AGRO MILLS LTD.
                          (Civil Appeal No. 3776 of 2018)
 B                               APRIL 13, 2018
                [R. K. AGRAWAL AND R. BANUMATHI, JJ.]
              Arbitration Act, 1940 – ss.3, 20, 30, 33 and Art.4 of the First
       Schedule – Disagreement between arbitrators – Reference to Umpire
       – Issue as to whether Umpire is to hear the matter de novo or from
 C
       the stage of disagreement between the Arbitrators – Agreement
       between appellant and respondent – Breach of agreement – Matter
       referred for Arbitration by two Arbitrators – In view of lack of
       consensus between the Arbitrators, matter referred to the Umpire –
       Umpire passed an award in favour of the respondent – Objections
 D     filed by appellant, rejected by High Court holding that the appellant
       did not make any serious endeavour for getting the evidence
       recorded again before the Umpire and waived the right of de novo
       trial by conduct – Division Bench dismissed the appeal by appellant
       – On appeal, held: The very essence of the law of arbitration is to
       settle the matter efficiently in a time bound manner – When the
 E
       Umpire enters upon a Reference and replaces the arbitrators, he is
       needed to review the evidence and submissions only on those matters
       about which the arbitrators had disagreed – However, if either of
       the party makes an application for de novo hearing, the Umpire is
       bound to allow the same, subject to the condition that the application
 F     is made at the earliest and is not being used as last armory to turn
       the case around – An objection on the ground that the Umpire has
       not reheard the evidence may be waived by the conduct of the parties
       – In the instant case, the belated application filed by appellant on
       29.01.2000 for commencement of proceedings de novo was not
       asking for re-hearing/re-recording of the evidence but was actually
 G
       for reviewing the order of the two Arbitrators and thus was nothing
       but a last armory to turn the case around – Conduct of the appellant
       amounts to waiver – No infirmity or error in the approach and
       judgments passed by the courts below – Waiver.

 H
                                       1062
  M/S OSWAL WOOLLEN MILLS LTD. v. M/S OSWAL AGRO                        1063
                   MILLS LTD.

       Arbitration – ‘De novo’ hearing – Meaning of – Discussed.        A
      Interpretation of Statutes – Purposive interpretation – When
to be given – Discussed.
      Dismissing the appeal, the Court
       HELD: 1.1 The very essence of the law of arbitration is to       B
settle the matter efficiently in a time bound manner. Hence, when
the Umpire enters upon a Reference and replaces the arbitrators,
he is needed to review the evidence and submissions only on
those matters about which the arbitrators have disagreed unless
either party applies for the rehearing of the evidence of the parties
or their witnesses. The Umpire can surely go through the                C
evidence recorded by the previous arbitrators but without being
influenced by the opinion expressed by them in that regard and
even the notes taken by previous arbitrators can be relied if there
exist special provisions in the agreement permitting him to do
so. However, if the party makes an application for de novo hearing,     D
the Umpire is bound to allow the same, subject to the condition
that the application is made at the earliest and the applicant is
not using it as last armory to turn the case around. An objection
on the ground that the Umpire has not reheard the evidence may
be waived by the conduct of the parties; the evidence already
recorded before the previous arbitrator would remain valid and          E
it would not be open for the parties to get the same recorded
afresh later on. It is a well settled proposition that where a party
seeking to impeach an Award has made no application to the
Umpire for rehearing of the evidence, the same would generally
operate as a waiver by conduct. [Para 13][1070-A-D]                     F
      1.2 The word de novo hearing should be given a purposive
interpretation and it should be understood as a fresh hearing of
the matter on the basis of pleadings, evidence and documents on
record. If the party wants to re-examine a witness or objects to
the documents admitted, the Umpire is to hear the parties and           G
decide the application in the interest of justice. [Para 15][1071-
C]
      1.3 The very first communication dated 24.05.1999, on
which the appellant-Company had relied upon was a letter written
to the Umpire with regard to the pending proceedings in the said
                                                                        H
1064            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                       [2018] 3 S.C.R.


 A     matter before the High Court and the application that was filed
       before the High Court to which the appellant-Company was
       referring to in the said letter was an application filed under Section
       5 of the Act for the dispute relating to quantum of fee of the
       Umpire. Though the appellant-Company in the said letter made
       a note with regard to the de novo hearing of the matter but the
 B
       same seems to be an additional armory that the appellant was
       putting behind its back as it did not demand de novo trial of the
       said matter either in the communication or thereafter in the
       proceedings. The appellant-Company next referred to
       communication dated 12.01.2000 but the same was also with
 C     regard to the pending proceedings before the High Court. It was
       only on 29.01.2000 that the appellant-Company had filed an
       application for de novo hearing of the case i.e., at a stage where
       the final arguments on the side of the respondent-Company had
       finished and the date was fixed for final argument from the side of
       appellant-Company. If the appellant-Company was serious in its
 D
       endeavor that it should get an opportunity to get the evidence
       recorded afresh, an application could easily have been filed before
       starting the proceedings before the Umpire. It was only from
       oblique references that the appellant-Company sought to derive
       such intent. This aspect was clearly an afterthought which arose
 E     during the culmination of the proceedings before the Umpire.
       Further, even the sum and substance of the highly belated
       application dated 29.01.2000 for commencement of proceedings
       de novo clearly shows that it was not asking for re-hearing/re-
       recording of the evidence but was actually requesting for review
       of the order of the two Arbitrators. From the above, there is no
 F
       doubt that the conduct of the appellant-Company amounts to
       waiver and the application filed on 29.01.2000 was nothing but
       trying a last armory to turn the case around. The Umpire was
       right in dismissing the said application. [Para 17][[1071-F-H;
       1072-A-D]
 G           1.4 The question of whether the claims were tenable or
       not are based on the contract and which of them had to be granted
       were within the exclusive domain of the Arbitrators. In this case,
       the Award considered the totality of circumstances, and weighed
       the relevant facts on balance while proceeding to award damages.
 H     The award does not disclose a manifestly erroneous approach;
  M/S OSWAL WOOLLEN MILLS LTD. v. M/S OSWAL AGRO                           1065
                   MILLS LTD.

nor does it omit to consider and apply legal principles to the facts       A
presented before the Arbitrators. There is no infirmity or error
in the approach and judgments passed by the courts below. [Paras
20, 21][1073-G-H; 1074-A-B]
      Ravindra Kumar Gupta and Company v. Union of India
      (2010) 1 SCC 409 : [2009] 16 SCR 142; Municipal                      B
      Corporation of Delhi v. Jagan Nath Ashok Kumar and
      Another (1987) 4 SCC 497 : [1988] 1 SCR 180 – relied
      on.
                        Case Law Reference
      [2009] 16 SCR 142                  relied on        Para 18          C

      [1988] 1 SCR 180                   relied on        Para 19
      CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 3776
of 2018.
      From the Judgment and Order dated 22.10.2013 of the High Court       D
of Delhi at New Delhi in FAO(OS) No. 211 of 2007.
     Basava Prabhu S. Patil, Sr. Adv., Aayush Agarwala, Anuj P.
Agarwala, Pramod B. Agarwala, Advs. for the Appellant.
      Dhruv Mehta, Sr. Adv., Bharat Arora, Ms. Anupama, Rohit Singh,
Ms. Prerna Mehta, Advs. for the Respondents.                               E

      The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
      R. K. AGRAWAL, J. 1. Leave granted.
       2. The present appeal is directed against the final judgment and
order dated 22.10.2013 passed by the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi      F
in FAO (OS) No. 211 of 2007 whereby a Division Bench of the High
Court dismissed the appeal filed by the appellant herein while upholding
the order dated 17.04.2007 passed by learned single Judge of the High
Court.
      3. Brief facts:                                                      G
       (a) The appellant Company-M/s Oswal Woolen Mills Ltd. and
the respondent Company-M/s Oswal Agro Mills Limited are Companies
incorporated under the Companies Act and are carrying on the business
of manufacturing and trading of vegetable oils, soaps, chemicals,
petrochemicals, woolen and related products.                               H
1066            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2018] 3 S.C.R.


 A            (b) Both the parties entered into an agreement dated 30.03.1982
       in terms whereof the appellant Company appointed the respondent
       Company as its agent in accordance with the Handbook of Import Export
       Procedure, 1981-82 in order to advice, assist and guide the appellant
       Company to import materials under the REP licences for a CIF value of
       Rs. 1,85,95,100/- only with remuneration at the rate of 5% (per cent) of
 B
       the CIF value of the goods imported along with all costs/expenditure
       incurred.
              (c) Out of the total value of the materials to be imported under the
       licences, the materials to the value of Rs. 1,16,00,800/- only could be
       imported and the material CIF value of Rs. 69,94,300/- could not be
 C     imported by the respondent-Company in the absence of the REP licences
       of the said value which resulted in breach of contract.
              (d) Both the parties took legal recourse and the High Court, on an
       application under Section 20 of the Arbitration Act, 1940 (in short ‘the
       Act’) referred the dispute to Arbitration of two Arbitrators. After
 D     completion of the arbitration proceedings before the Arbitrators, the
       arbitrators, could not reach to a consensus on the Award in terms of the
       Minutes of the Meeting held on 19.02.1999 and the matter was referred
       to the Umpire.
              (e) The appellant-Company moved an application dated 29.01.2000
 E     before the Umpire seeking commencement of de novo proceedings.
       On 31.01.2000, the said application was dismissed as untenable. Learned
       Umpire, passed an award dated 21.02.2000, in favour of the respondent-
       Company to the tune of Rs. 64,65,782/- along with the interest at the
       rate of 18% (per cent) with effect from 01.11.1991 till the date of
 F     realization.
              (f) Being aggrieved by the Award dated 21.02.2000, the appellant
       Company filed objections before the High Court under Sections 30 and
       33 of the Act which was registered as IA No. 803 of 2001 in CS (OS)
       No. 795-A/2000. Learned single Judge of the High Court, vide judgment
 G     and order dated 17.04.2007, substantially rejected the objections to the
       Award and made a Rule of the Court with slight modifications. Learned
       single Judge also observed that the appellant-Company failed to satisfy
       that there was any serious endeavour for getting the evidence recorded
       again before the Umpire and waived the right of de novo trial by conduct.

 H
  M/S OSWAL WOOLLEN MILLS LTD. v. M/S OSWAL AGRO                              1067
           MILLS LTD. [R. K. AGRAWAL, J.]

      (g) Aggrieved by the judgment and order passed by learned single        A
Judge of the High Court, the appellant-Company preferred an appeal
being FAO (OS) No. 211 of 2007 before a Division Bench of the High
Court. The Division Bench, vide judgment and order dated 22.10.2013,
dismissed the appeal.
      (h) Aggrieved by the judgment and order dated 22.10.2013, the           B
appellant-Company has preferred this appeal by way of special leave
before this Court.
       4. Heard Mr. Basava Prabhu S. Patil, learned senior counsel for
the appellant-Company and Mr. Dhruv Mehta, learned senior counsel
for respondent-Company and perused the records.                               C
      Point(s) for consideration:-
      5. The only point for consideration before this Court is whether
an Umpire has to hear the matter de novo on a Reference or from the
stage of disagreement between the Arbitrators?
                                                                              D
      Rival contentions:-
       6. Learned senior counsel for the appellant-Company contended
that the Division Bench erred in interpreting the scope of Article 4 to
Schedule 1 of the Act to mean that the Umpire has to hear the Reference
only from the stage at which the Arbitrators disagreed and not de novo.
                                                                              E
Learned senior counsel while relying upon Article 4 to Schedule I of the
Act contended that de novo proceedings are essential when the
Arbitrators have disagreed and the Umpire is appointed to decide the
dispute. He further contended that when Umpire enters into Reference
“in lieu of Arbitrators” he steps in the shoes of the Arbitrators and has
the same duties as that of Arbitrators. Accordingly, the Umpire cannot        F
depart from the requirement that an arbitrator should personally record
the evidence on which he is to rely for the purpose of giving his decision.
The Umpire cannot refuse to hear the witness again; and if on request
of a party for the same, fails to do so, the Award would be bad for
misconduct.
                                                                              G
      7. Learned senior counsel further contended that the Division
Bench has simply affirmed the findings of learned single Judge on the
question of waiver, damages ought to be awarded, without appreciating
the contentions advanced especially when it was established from the
documents on record that the appellant-Company had never waived its
                                                                              H
1068             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2018] 3 S.C.R.


 A     right of de novo hearing but had been insistent throughout before the
       Umpire to start proceedings de novo. For the purpose, the appellant-
       Company placed reliance on communication dated 24.05.1999 and
       12.01.2000 addressed to the Umpire and the application dated 29.01.2000
       filed for de novo hearing of the matter.
 B             8. Arguing next with respect to damages granted to the respondent-
       Company, it was contended by learned senior counsel that under the
       first agreement, goods were to be imported and 5% commission was to
       be paid. Therefore, to award damages for the goods not processed and
       not delivered because the same were not imported under the first
       agreement is untenable. Learned senior counsel finally contended that
 C     learned single Judge as well as the Division Bench erred in law and
       interference by this Court is sought for in the matter.
              9. Per contra, learned senior counsel for the respondent-Company
       strenuously submitted that the application filed by the appellant-Company
       is misconceived, not maintainable and the relief sought is vague. The
 D     application was moved when the hearing before the Umpire had already
       started and the claimant had concluded his arguments. The very first
       application for the same was filed on 29.01.2000 in spite of the fact that
       the first hearing before the Umpire took place on 24.04.1999 which got
       dismissed by a detailed order categorically recording that the Umpire
 E     cannot sit over or review the order of the Arbitrators which was
       unanimous and the application was a belated application with mala fide
       intentions.
              10. Learned senior counsel further submitted that the understanding
       and interpretation of Article 4 has to be in consonance with reason and
 F     logic, meaning thereby, the stage at which the Arbitrators disagree would
       be the stage at which the Umpire commences upon and proceeds with
       the reference. Therefore, the Umpire is not duty bound to record the
       same evidence all over again, more so, when both the parties were given
       ample opportunities for presenting their case. Learned senior counsel
       further submitted that the Umpire, vide Award dated 21.02.2000, has
 G     categorically noted that the appellant-Company unduly delayed the
       proceedings and has specifically mentioned the dates wherein no
       appearance was put in by the other side which resulted in waiver by
       conduct. Therefore, the plea of de novo proceedings is erroneous and
       against the settled legal proposition of law. Learned senior counsel finally
 H     submitted that there was no irregularity in the reasoned orders passed
  M/S OSWAL WOOLLEN MILLS LTD. v. M/S OSWAL AGRO                                1069
           MILLS LTD. [R. K. AGRAWAL, J.]

by learned single Judge and the Division Bench of the High Court and            A
no interference is sought for by this Court in the matter.
      Discussion:-
       11. The first and the foremost point that arises for consideration is
whether in a case where the matter has been referred to the Umpire
owing to disagreement between the Arbitrators, the Umpire has to confine        B
himself only to hear the issues on which the arbitrators disagreed or he
has to hear the matter afresh. Further, what does the word de novo
hearing means? By virtue of Section 3 of the Act, unless otherwise
agreed, the provisions of the First Schedule are deemed to be incorporated
in the arbitration agreement. In this view of the matter, it is necessary to    C
scrutinize Article 4 of the First Schedule of the Act as the same relates
to the matter in controversy which reads as under:-
      “4. If the arbitrators have allowed their time to expire without
      making an award or have delivered to any party to the arbitration
      agreement or to the umpire a notice in writing stating that they          D
      cannot agree, the, umpire shall forthwith enter on the reference in
      lieu of the arbitrators.”
       12. From a bare perusal of the above, it is clear that an Umpire
enters on a Reference “in lieu of the Arbitrators” and the Act does not
contemplate any distinction with regard to the conduct of proceedings           E
by the Arbitrators or the Umpire. It is an undeniable fact that on reference
of the matter to the Umpire, the Arbitrators become functus officio.
The Umpire takes upon himself the exclusive authority of determining
the disputes. He takes the place of Arbitrators, as the expression “in
lieu of the Arbitrators” conveys. Unless there is an agreement to the
contrary, defining or demarcating the powers of the Umpire, he is               F
expected to discharge the same functions as Arbitrators with all the
attendant powers, duties and obligations.
       13. Either going by the very nature of functions entrusted to the
Umpire or by the provisions of the First Schedule, it is crystal clear that
there is no qualitative difference between the Arbitrators and the Umpire       G
with regard to the methodology and modalities to be adopted for reaching
a just and fair conclusion. It is trite to say that an Arbitrator is bound to
observe the principles of natural justice and conform to the fundamentals
of judicial procedure. It is his duty to afford a reasonable opportunity to
the parties concerned. However, it would also be illogical to contend
                                                                                H
1070             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2018] 3 S.C.R.


 A     that the Umpire has to start de novo ipso facto. The very essence of
       the law of arbitration is to settle the matter efficiently in a time bound
       manner. Hence, when the Umpire enters upon a Reference and replaces
       the arbitrators, he is needed to review the evidence and submissions
       only on those matters about which the arbitrators have disagreed unless
       either party applies for the rehearing of the evidence of the parties or
 B
       their witnesses. The Umpire can surely go through the evidence recorded
       by the previous arbitrators but without being influenced by the opinion
       expressed by them in that regard and even the notes taken by previous
       arbitrators can be relied if there exist special provisions in the agreement
       permitting him to do so. However, if the party makes an application for
 C     de novo hearing, the Umpire is bound to allow the same, subject to the
       condition that the application is made at the earliest and the applicant is
       not using it as last armory to turn the case around. An objection on the
       ground that the Umpire has not reheard the evidence may be waived by
       the conduct of the parties; the evidence already recorded before the
       previous arbitrator would remain valid and it would not be open for the
 D
       parties to get the same recorded afresh later on. It is a well settled
       proposition that where a party seeking to impeach an Award has made
       no application to the Umpire for rehearing of the evidence, the same
       would generally operate as a waiver by conduct.
              14. Having said that the Umpire is bound to hear the matter de
 E     novo on an application filed by the parties, subject to the satisfaction of
       other necessary conditions in accordance with the law of arbitration and
       before examining whether the conduct of the appellant-Company amounts
       to waiver or not, it is necessary to examine the meaning of the word de
       novo hearing before the Umpire to whom the matter is referred in case
 F     of disagreement between the Arbitrators. Learned senior counsel for
       the appellant-Company contends that hearing a matter de novo means
       the matter is to be started afresh i.e., from the very point from where
       the arbitrators had started. In other words, it would mean that the matter
       brought on record: pleadings, evidence; before the arbitrators at the first
       instance would become nullity i.e., the proceedings including statements
 G     of claim, reply to claims and counter claims, statements and cross-
       examinations of witnesses before the Arbitrators have no significance.
       The ascertained point in dispute and the well known position of the parties
       would go in vain and the Umpire should start again with the same process.
       An inevitable outcome of the same is that a party is allowed to overcome
 H
  M/S OSWAL WOOLLEN MILLS LTD. v. M/S OSWAL AGRO                              1071
           MILLS LTD. [R. K. AGRAWAL, J.]

the lacuna in the evidence already recorded before the previous               A
arbitrators. Further, it would give an unnecessary option to the dishonest
litigant to obliterate the evidence already recorded which would have
adverse effect on them. Further, the witnesses to be examined afresh is
a glaring anomaly that would ensue that the witnesses may not be available
or might give a totally different version or a version inconsistent with
                                                                              B
their previous version, owing to the fact of faded memories. Such an
interpretation of the word de novo trial would result in undue hardship
to the parties and will defeat the very purpose of the Act and render
arbitration ineffective.
      15. Hence, firstly, the word de novo hearing should be given a
purposive interpretation and it should be understood as a fresh hearing       C
of the matter on the basis of pleadings, evidence and documents on
record. If the party wants to re-examine a witness or objects to the
documents admitted, the Umpire is to hear the parties and decide the
application in the interest of justice.
       16. Having held that the a party do have a right to call for de        D
novo hearing subject to the waiver of the same by conduct, now comes
the question whether in fact and circumstances of the present case the
conduct of the appellant-Company amounts to waiver or not. It was
contended that the appellant-Company has from the very beginning of
the hearing before the Umpire had demanded de novo trial of the matter        E
and in support of that it relied upon the communication dated 24.05.1999,
12.01.2000 addressed to the Umpire and application dated 29.01.2000
filed for de novo hearing of the matter.
      17. However, having perused the records, it was found that the
very first communication dated 24.05.1999, on which the appellant-            F
Company has relied upon is a letter written to the Umpire with regard to
the pending proceedings in the said matter before the High Court and
the application that is filed before the High Court to which the appellant-
Company was referring to in the said letter was an application filed
under Section 5 of the Act for the dispute relating to quantum of fee of
the Umpire. Though the appellant-Company in the said letter made a            G
note with regard to the de novo hearing of the matter but the same
seems to be an additional armory that the appellant is putting behind its
back as it hasn’t demanded de novo trial of the said matter neither in
the communication nor thereafter in the proceedings. The appellant-
Company next referred to communication dated 12.01.2000 but the same          H
1072            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                          [2018] 3 S.C.R.


 A     is also with regard to the pending proceedings before the High Court. It
       is only on 29.01.2000 that the appellant-Company has filed an application
       for de novo hearing of the case i.e., at a stage where the final arguments
       on the side of the respondent-Company have been finished and the date
       was fixed for final argument from the side of appellant-Company. If the
       appellant-Company was serious in its endeavor that it should get an
 B
       opportunity to get the evidence recorded afresh, an application could
       easily have been filed before starting the proceedings before the Umpire.
       It is only from oblique references that the appellant-Company seeks to
       derive such intent. This aspect is clearly an afterthought which arose
       during the culmination of the proceedings before the Umpire. Further,
 C     even the sum and substance of the highly belated application dated
       29.01.2000 for commencement of proceedings de novo clearly shows
       that it was not asking for re-hearing/re-recording of the evidence but
       was actually requesting for review of the order of the two Arbitrators
       especially for re-examination of Shri K.L. Jain. It is the case of the
       appellant-Company that the Arbitrators were wrong in permitting
 D
       production of some other witness, by name, Shri Vijay Gupta instead of
       Shri K.L Jain. From the above, there is no doubt that the conduct of the
       appellant-Company amounts to waiver and the application filed on
       29.01.2000 is nothing but trying a last armory to turn the case around.
       The Umpire was right in dismissing the said application.
 E            18. Learned senior counsel for the appellant-Company contended
       on merits of the case, however, the law is well settled with regard to the
       scope and ambit of the jurisdiction of the courts to interfere with an
       arbitration award as has been settled in a catena of judgments of this
       Court and it would be sufficient to quote Ravindra Kumar Gupta and
 F     Company vs. Union of India (2010) 1 SCC 409 wherein it was held as
       under:-
             “9. The law with regard to scope and ambit of the jurisdiction of
             the courts to interfere with an arbitration award has been settled
             in a catena of judgments of this Court. We may make a reference
 G           here only to some of the judgments. In State of Rajasthan v. Puri
             Construction Co. Ltd. this Court observed as follows:
                 “26. The arbitrator is the final arbiter for the dispute between
                 the parties and it is not open to challenge the award on the
                 ground that the arbitrator has drawn his own conclusion or has
 H               failed to appreciate the facts. In Sudarsan Trading Co. v. Govt.
  M/S OSWAL WOOLLEN MILLS LTD. v. M/S OSWAL AGRO                                 1073
           MILLS LTD. [R. K. AGRAWAL, J.]

          of Kerala it has been held by this Court that there is a distinction   A
          between disputes as to the jurisdiction of the arbitrator and the
          disputes as to in what way that jurisdiction should be exercised.
          There may be a conflict as to the power of the arbitrator to
          grant a particular remedy. One has to determine the distinction
          between an error within the jurisdiction and an error in excess
                                                                                 B
          of the jurisdiction. Court cannot substitute its own evaluation
          of the conclusion of law or fact to come to the conclusion that
          the arbitrator had acted contrary to the bargain between the
          parties. (emphasis in original) Whether a particular amount
          was liable to be paid is a decision within the competency of the
          arbitrator. By purporting to construe the contract the court           C
          cannot take upon itself the burden of saying that this was
          contrary to the contract and as such beyond jurisdiction. If on
          a view taken of a contract, the decision of the arbitrator on
          certain amounts awarded is a possible view though perhaps
          not the only correct view, the award cannot be examined by
                                                                                 D
          the court. Where the reasons have been given by the arbitrator
          in making the award the court cannot examine the
          reasonableness of the reasons. If the parties have selected
          their own forum, the deciding forum must be conceded the
          power of appraisement of evidence. The arbitrator is the sole
          judge of the quality as well as the quantity of evidence and it        E
          will not be for the court to take upon itself the task of being a
          Judge on the evidence before the arbitrator.”
       19. In Municipal Corporation of Delhi vs. Jagan Nath Ashok
Kumar and Another (1987) 4 SCC 497, it was held by this Court that
appraisement of evidence by the arbitrator is ordinarily never a matter          F
which the court questions and considers. It may be possible that on the
same evidence, the court may arrive at a different conclusion than the
one arrived at by the arbitrator but that by itself is no ground for setting
aside the award.
       20. Following the above judgments, we are of the opinion that the         G
question of whether the claims were tenable or not are based on the
contract and which of them had to be granted were within the exclusive
domain of the Arbitrators. In this case, the Award considered the totality
of circumstances, and weighed the relevant facts on balance while
proceeding to award damages. The award does not disclose a manifestly
                                                                                 H
1074            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2018] 3 S.C.R.


 A     erroneous approach; nor does it omit to consider and apply legal principles
       to the facts presented before the Arbitrators.
             21. In view of the above discussion, we do not find any infirmity
       or error in the approach and judgments passed by the courts below.
       There is no merit in this appeal and the appeal is, therefore, dismissed
 B     with no order as to costs.


       Divya Pandey                                                Appeal dismissed.



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