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The learned ASG and the learned senior counsel advanced elaborate submissions with reference to the provisions of the Indian Arbitration Act, 1940, Limitation Act,1963 and also cited many decisions in support of their respective contentions.

Mr. Gopal Subramanium submitted as under:

(a) that the award was filed by the arbitrator and not by the appellant and that the appellant has not instructed their counsel to file the award and that the award was filed by the counsel at the instance of the arbitrator. The arbitrators had addressed a letter to the counsel along with their affidavits for filing the award. As the award was filed on behalf of the arbitrator, the doctrine of constructive notice cannot be stretched to the extent of imputing knowledge on the appellant of filing of the award;

Arguing further, Mr. Ashok Desai submitted that the question in the instant matter is not whether the appellant had expressly instructed its counsel to file the award in Court but whether the very act of the appellant's counsel acting as counsel of the appellant in filing the award in Court imputes deemed and constructive knowledge of the filing of the award on the appellant.

It was also submitted by Mr. Ashok Desai that the decisions of this Court in Deo Natain Choudhary vs. Shree Narain Choudhury (supra) and Ch. Ramalinga Reddy vs. Superintending Engineer (supra), are not applicable to the facts of the instant case and are even otherwise consistent with the decision of this Court in F.C.I. vs. B. Kuttappan, (supra). Mr. Ashok Desai further submitted that the appeal filed by the ONGC has no merits and therefore, is liable to be dismissed with heavy costs.