English Translated Copy Certified By A Sworn Or Official Translator Is Sufficient Compliance Of Section 47(2) Of The A&C Act: J&K High Court

The bench of Justice Rajnesh Oswal read the provision of Article V of the New York Convention into Article 47 of the A&C Act to hold that the English translated copy of the award certified as true by a sworn or an official translator of the Country in which the award is made would be sufficient compliance of Section 47 which ensures that no tempering with the award or any finding therein takes place while translating the same into English language.

The Court also held that part-II of the A&C Act, 1996 also applied to the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir and that mere absence of Part-II from Section 1(2) of the A&C Act would not have the effect of excluding its applicability to erstwhile State of J&K.

Facts

The petitioner filed an application under Section 47 & 49 of the A&C Act for enforcement of a foreign award dated 11.02.2015. The award was passed pursuant to disputes between the parties. The award was delivered in Germany and in German language.

The petitioner filed a copy of the translation of the award done by Dr. Ralph A Fellow, who was certified as a translator by the General Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany.

Objections raised by the award debtor

The respondent/award debtor raised the following objections:

• The part-II of the A&C Act was never made applicable to the erstwhile State of J&K as only part-I, III and IV were made applicable by the Section 1(2) that provided for the applicability of the Act.
• In arguendo, if it is accepted that the Act applied to J&K, then the petitioner has not complied with the provisions of Section 47(2) of the A&C Act which provides that an award in a foreign language has to be translated through and certified by the Diplomatic or Consular agent of the award holder’s country.

Analysis by the Court

The Court rejected the objection of the respondent regarding the non-applicability of part-II of the Act to the erstwhile State of J&K. It observed that the Supreme Court in BALCO^[1] has already held that part-II extends to the erstwhile State of J&K also.

Next, the Court dealt with the objection regarding not filing a translated copy certified by the Diplomatic and Consular agent. The Court observed that the petitioner filed a copy of the translation of the award done by Dr. Ralph A Fellow, who was certified as a translator by the General Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany. Further, it observed that the respondent has not disputed the status or competence of Dr. Ralph as publicly appointed interpreter and translator but only took refuge under technicalities of Section 47(2) to frustrate and delay the execution of the award.

The Court held that filing of an English translated copy certified by an official or sworn translator satisfies the requirement of Section 47(2) of the A&C Act which provides that if an award is in a foreign language, a translated copy of the award is to be filed for the purpose of the enforcement of the foreign award.

The Court read the provision of Article V of the New York Convention into Article 47 of the A&C Act to hold that the English translated copy of the award certified as true by a sworn or an official translator of the Country in which the award is made would be sufficient compliance of Section 47 which ensures that no tempering with the award or any finding therein takes place while translating the same into English language.

Accordingly, the Court rejected the objections.

Case Title: CRP FOOD IMPORT-EXPORT v. KASHMIR KESAR MART, 

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (JKL) 270

DATE: 13.10.2023

COUNSEL FOR THE PETITIONER: Mr. Syed Faisal Qadiri, Sr. Advocate with M/S: Salih Pirzada & Sharaf Wani, Advocates

COUNSEL FOR THE RESPONDENT: Mr. M. I. Dar, Advocate, with Mr. Ruaani & Ms. Sana Imam, Advocate.

Click Here To Read/Download Order