Foreign arbitral award enforcement does not require separate stamp duty when the statutory conditions are met.

A foreign arbitral award under Part II of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is treated as falling within the special recognition and enforcement scheme in Sections 44 to 49. The text states that the Indian Stamp Act does not expressly require separate stamping of a foreign award, and such a requirement should not be implied to defeat enforcement. Once the statutory conditions for enforceability are satisfied, the award is to be enforced in India in the manner contemplated by the Act, without multiplicity of proceedings. On that basis, the stamp-duty objection is rejected.

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Issues: Whether a foreign arbitral award made outside India is required to be stamped under the Indian Stamp Act before it can be enforced in India, and whether such award is enforceable as a decree under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

Analysis: A foreign award falling within Part II of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is governed by the special scheme for recognition and enforcement under Sections 44 to 49. The Indian Stamp Act, 1899 contains a specific entry for an award, but the Schedule does not expressly include a foreign award as such. The statutory scheme of the 1996 Act shows that once a foreign award satisfies the requirements of enforceability, it is to be treated as enforceable in the manner contemplated by the Act, without the need for a separate stamping requirement being imposed by implication. The absence of any amendment to the stamp schedule to cover foreign awards, coupled with the legislative intent to avoid multiplicity of proceedings, supports the view that a foreign award is not rendered unenforceable merely for want of stamp duty.

Conclusion: The foreign award was held to be already stamped as a decree and enforceable in India; the objection based on stamp duty was rejected.

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