Post-award interim protection under Section 9 remains available to unsuccessful arbitral parties in rare and compelling circumstances.

Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act permits any party to an arbitration agreement, including an unsuccessful party, to seek post-award interim protection before enforcement. The provision contains no distinction based on success in arbitration, and limiting relief to an award-holder would improperly narrow protection of the subject matter of arbitration or amount in dispute. Sections 34 and 36 govern challenge and stay of awards separately from Section 9. Post-award relief for an unsuccessful party remains exceptional and requires a prima facie case, balance of convenience, irreparable injury, and rare, compelling circumstances.

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Issues: Whether a party unsuccessful in arbitral proceedings, having no enforceable award in its favour, may maintain an application for post-award interim measures under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

Analysis: Section 9, read with the definition of "party" in Section 2(h), plainly permits any party to an arbitration agreement to seek interim protection before, during, or after arbitral proceedings until enforcement of the award. The provision does not distinguish between successful and unsuccessful parties. Restricting post-award relief to an award-holder would impermissibly add a qualification absent from the statutory text and would narrow the statutory expressions "subject matter of arbitration" and "amount in dispute" to the "fruits" of an award. Sections 34 and 36 operate in distinct spheres: they concern challenge to, and stay of, an award, whereas Section 9 protects the subject matter or amount in dispute. The possibility of modification or severance of an award, recommencement of arbitration after setting aside, and preservation of limitation under Section 43(4) further demonstrate that an unsuccessful party may require protection pending challenge proceedings. Interim relief remains governed by prima facie case, balance of convenience, and irreparable injury; the threshold is higher for an unsuccessful party and relief is warranted only in rare and compelling cases.

Conclusion: Any party to an arbitration agreement, including a party unsuccessful in arbitration, may invoke Section 9 at the post-award stage before enforcement of the award; decisions denying such access do not state the correct law.

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