In NBCC Limited v. JG Engineering Pvt.Limited (2010) 2, SCC 385 a judgment dated 5 January 2010, the Honourable Supreme Court of India recognised the primacy of party autonomy in arbitration proceedings. The Court held that time limits, and provisions regarding extensions of time, provided for in an arbitration agreement must be adhered to.

Faced with a situation where the arbitration could not be completed within the time limit fixed in the arbitration agreement, the Court held that, although there are no provisions to extend deadlines under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 (the Act), or the old Arbitration Act 1940, the appropriate court does have an inherent jurisdiction to extend time. However, the court has no such jurisdiction where the arbitration agreement provides for a mechanism to extend time, or allows an extension when there is mutual consent between the parties. In such cases, the parties will have to adhere to the mechanism provided for in the agreement. The Court further held that in the absence of an extension of time, the arbitrator ceases to enjoy the mandate of the parties and therefore an award would be set aside under section 14 of the Act.

The arbitration clause in this case provided for extensions of time and the court therefore held that the arbitrator had no power to extend time until the parties had agreed and consented to an extension of time. Therefore, the arbitrator's mandate was automatically terminated.

This decision is useful to the extent that it holds that the appropriate court shall have inherent powers to extend the time for conclusion of the arbitration proceedings but that power will only exist where the arbitration agreement is silent on the issue. The decision reaffirms that the arbitration proceedings must be concluded within the time frame contemplated by the parties, failing which the arbitrator will lose the mandate to act.