Writ Petition Can Be Converted To Appeal U/S 37 Of Arbitration Act If It Does Not Prejudice Respondents: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court Bench of Justice Manish Kumar Nigam allowed the conversion of a writ petition under Article 227, Constitution of India (“COI”) into an appeal under Section 37, Arbitration and Conciliation Act (“ACA”) noting that where a particular kind of proceeding is not maintainable and a different kind of proceeding lies in respect thereof before the Court, the Court has jurisdiction to convert one into other subject to law relating to limitation and court fees. Facts The present petition was filed to challenge the order dated 25.03.2010 passed by the District Judge Agra by which objections filed by the Petitioner under Section 34, ACA for setting aside the award dated 27.05.2002 given by the sole arbitrator were rejected. Initially, the present petition was filed under Article 226, COI. Later on, an amendment application was filed by the counsel for the Petitioner for converting the present petition to a petition under Article 227, COI. The said application was allowed by the Court vide order dated 21.07.2022 and the petition was converted to a petition under Article 227, COI. When the matter was taken up, an objection was raised by the Counsel for the Respondents that against an order passed under Section 34, ACA, rejecting or allowing the objections filed against the arbitral award, an appeal lies under Section 37, ACA and therefore, the present petition could not be entertained under Article 227, COI. Contentions The Counsel for the Respondents placed reliance on U.P. Awas Vikas Parishad v M/s Universal Contractors and Engineers Ltd. decided on 03.10.2024 wherein, the Court had taken a view that a petition filed under Article 227, COI challenging the order passed by the Arbitral Tribunal could not be entertained. It was further submitted that since the Petitioner had a statutory alternative remedy under Section 37, ACA, the present petition must not be entertained. On the other hand, the Counsel for the Petitioner submitted that the Petitioner acknowledged that the correct remedy was filing an appeal under Section 37, ACA but since the petition had already been entertained by the Court, therefore he requested that he be permitted to convert the present petition into an appeal filed under Section 37, ACA as the jurisdiction to entertain an appeal was also with the High Court. The Counsel for the Respondents further contended that such a permission could not be granted and the proper course for the Petitioner was to withdraw the current petition and file an appeal wherein he may seek for condonation of delay in filing the appeal under Section 5 read with Section 14 of the Limitation Act. Observations The Court relied on its previous judgment in Kailash Chandra v. Ram Naresh Gupta wherein it was held that conversion of a revision into a writ petition under Article 226/227 was permissible. In view of the case laws discussed, the Court observed that there was no impediment in conversion where a particular kind of proceeding is not maintainable and a different kind of proceeding lies in respect thereof. In such a situation the Court has jurisdiction to convert one into other subject to law relating to limitation and court fees. Accordingly, the Court converted the present petition under Article 227 into an appeal under Section 37, ACA. Case Title – Union of India v Bhular Construction Company & Others Case No. – Matters under Article 227 No. – 8841 of 2023 Appearance- For Petitioner – Harish Chandra Dubey, Rajesh Tripathi For Respondent – Bharat Bhushan Paul, Salil Kumar Rai, Saurabh Paul Date – 02.09.2025 Click Here To Read/Download The Order

Writ Petition Can Be Converted To Appeal U/S 37 Of Arbitration Act If It Does Not Prejudice Respondents: Allahabad High Court

Arpita Pande

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