It is an incontrovertible that the process of arbitration is governed by the law of seat of the arbitration. Therefore, in case of international commercial arbitration having the seat of arbitration in India, and in case of domestic arbitration (both parties are Indian), section 34 under Part I of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996 (hereinafter referred as 1996 Act) lays down the provisions under which applications could be filed to set aside arbitral awards.

This article is an attempt to critically analyse section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 in the light of recent amendment of 2015 to the Act and judicial pronouncements.