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7. The expression "each and every due amount" is relatable to the different bills on which the said dues arose.

8. Thus, the Council did not calculate in details the exact amount of interest payable but merely referred to Section 16 of the MSME Act.

9. Although it has been insinuated by the parties that the exact amount of interest ought to have been calculated in the award, to be fair, there may be some justification in the Council not doing so, since the date of actual repayment being uncertain, the quantum of interest till such date could not have been prophesied by the Council while passing the award.

11. Section 31(7) of the 1996 Act provides that in case of awards for payment of money, the Arbitral Tribunal may include in the sum for which the award is made, interest at such rate as it deems reasonable. Unless the award otherwise directs, the awarded sum has to carry interest at the rate of 2% higher than the current rate of interest prevalent on the date of the award, from the date of award to the date of payment.

12. However, Section 16 of the MSME Act, which is a special statute in respect of MSME Units, clearly provides that such interest has to be mandatorily paid as compound interest with monthly rests at 3 times the bank rate notified by the RBI. In view of the non-obstante clause in Section 16, the same overrides Section 31(7) of the 1996 Act and it is the stipulation of Section 16, thus, which is to be reckoned with in the context.

20. To ascertain such issue, the very concept of compound interest versus simple interest is to be explored, since compound interest is the chosen mode in Section 16. Importantly, it has also been stipulated in Section 16 of the MSME Act that the compound interest shall be with "monthly rests". Thus, the interest is to be compounded at the end of each month after the appointed day.

21. The very concept of compound interest is variable progression, as opposed to simple interest which, by its very definition, always has to be at a fixed rate as on the date of commencement of calculation. In case of simple interest, the interest is calculated at the fixed rate which prevailed at the juncture of commencement of calculations till the date of payment, on the principal.

38. Thus, the law as interpreted above, as comprised in Section 16 of the MSME Act, could not have been waived by the award-debtor merely by making certain payments of interest. In any event, mere payment at a certain rate, without anything else, cannot amount to a concession on the variability or otherwise of rates of interest, since the question never came up or was considered by court at any stage before.

39. As such, upon a comprehensive assessment of the provisions of Section 16, the inevitable conclusion is that the interest envisaged therein is to be paid at the rate of three times the RBI notified rates, the incidence of which would be at each monthly rest, meaning thereby that the rates would be fluctuating along with the RBI-notified rates at variable points of time, to be taken at each monthly interval which is the point of incidence of such rates.