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6. The third ground of attack against the award is, however, substantial. The award which has been made a rule of the Court was made admittedly four months after the Arbitrator had entered into reference. Paragraph 3 of the First Schedule to the Arbitration Act, 1940, says that "the Arbitrators shall make their award within four months after entering on the reference or after having been called upon to act by notice in writing from any party to the arbitration agreement or within such extended time as the Court may allow." Sub-section (1) of Section 28 of the Act is to this effect:

This Bench decision of the Allahabad High Court was followed in a Division Bench judgment of the Patna High Court of Sinha and Dayal JJ. In Lakhmir Singh v. Union of India, AIR 1957 Pat 633. In the case before the Patna High Court the Arbitrator entered into reference on 8th of January, 1947, and it was on 27th of June, 1947 that the award was made. Four months expired on 8th of May, 1947, and on 9th of May 1947, the claim of the plaintiff was permitted to be amended before the arbitrator. It was held by the Division Bench that on a simple calculation the award was beyond four months of the arbitrator entering on the reference and was, therefore, clearly hit by paragraph 3 of Schedule 1. The plaintiff was not estopped by his own conduct from challenging it as there was no estoppel against the statute. On behalf of the respondent reliance 19 placed on an earlier Division Bench judgment of the Patna High Court in which the provisions with regard to arbitration were somewhat different in language but it is submitted that in effect they were not much different from what is now contained in the Indian Arbitration Act.