S. Abdul Nazeer JUDGMENT
N.V. Ramana, J.
1. These appeals are filed, aggrieved by the judgment and order dated 18.06.2012 in the Civil Revision Petition Nos. 2151, 2246, 2383 and 2458 of 2012 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad.
2. An interesting question of law arises in this batch of petitions, concerning the applicability of Section 17 of the Limitation Act, 1963 ['Limitation Act'] for condonation of a delay caused on the account of alleged fraud played on the objector (party challenging the award) beyond the period prescribed Under Section 34 (3) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996 ['Arbitration Act'].
3. The facts which give rise to this question fall into a narrow compass. Originally one Mr. P. Kishan Lal carried on business and acquired several properties. On his death, Mr. P. Kishan Lal was survived by eight (8) legal heirs (Appellant Nos. 1 to 6 and Respondent Nos. 1 and 2).
4. After the death of Mr. Kishan Lal, several disputes have cropped up on the division of properties. Having failed to resolve the dispute, the parties turned towards arbitration to resolve the dispute. Five Arbitrators were appointed to adjudicate and distribute eleven properties belonging to them.
5. On 18.02.2010, the arbitrators passed a unanimous Award providing for the division of properties and businesses. The parties received the Award on 21.02.2010. There is no dispute on the receipt of the Award by the parties.
6. The Respondents allege that after the pronouncement of the award, the Appellants in bad faith entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Respondents. According to the Respondents, the Appellants agreed to give certain additional properties to Respondent No. 1, which were more than what were provided in the Award. The Respondents alleged that after entering into the MoU, the Appellants were required to execute Gift and Release Deeds to give effect to the MoU. However, the Appellants delayed the execution of the Gift and Release Deeds as contemplated by the MoU.
7. In the meanwhile, the three-month period and the extended period of 30 days for challenging an Award Under Section 34(3) of the Arbitration Act had expired. After the time limit expired, the Appellants filed an Execution Petition (EP) for execution of the Award. The trial court held that EP was not maintainable. On appeal, the High Court set aside the order of the trial court and held that the Execution Petition was maintainable and directed the trial court to decide it on merits.
8. When the Respondents realized that the Appellants were delaying the execution of the Gift Deed contemplated by the MoU, the Respondents on 08.02.2011 filed an application Under Section 34(3) of the Arbitration Act for setting aside the Award. This filing was 236 days after the receipt of the Award by the Respondents. The application was accompanied by another application Under Section 5 of the Limitation Act seeking condonation of the delay of 236 d........