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Den Network Ltd. & Anr. vs. Aerolex Cable Net & Anr.

Execution Petition · 2026:DHC:8567Decided 30 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
EX.P. 23/2020CNR: DLHC010144742020
Justice Om Prakash Shukla

Background

The decree holders sought to enforce an arbitral award that was found to be insufficiently stamped under the Indian Stamp Act. The Court had earlier given them a final four-week window to pay the deficient stamp duty, which lapsed without compliance.

Decision Breakdown

Since the law required the Court to impound an inadequately stamped award and barred acting upon it, and since the decree holder had already separately secured a stay in a connected matter by depositing funds, the decree holder sought and was granted leave to withdraw the enforcement petition, with liberty to refile once the stamp duty is properly made up.

Lesson Learnt

An arbitral award must be adequately stamped before a court can enforce it; courts give only a limited window to cure such defects, after which the award becomes legally unusable until the deficiency is fixed.

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