P.G. And W. Sawoo Private Limited Vs Union of India (Calcutta High Court)
The Calcutta High Court adjudicated the Execution Petition filed by the Award Holder seeking enforcement of an arbitral award dated 24.01.2024, along with an Additional Award dated 28.03.2024. Neither the original award nor the additional award had been challenged, and both had attained finality. The original award directed the Award Debtor to pay Rs. 58,00,172 towards unpaid rent, Rs. 2,54,37,533 for unpaid mesne profits, interest at 10% per annum on these sums from 01.07.2021 until the date of the award, Rs. 55,55,339 for Service Tax/GST, and Rs. 87,00,000 as arbitration costs. Failure to pay within four weeks would attract future interest at 12% per annum until realization. The Additional Award corrected a typographical error in paragraph 16 but made no substantive change to the operative directions.
Both parties submitted rival calculations of the amounts due. The Award Debtor’s calculation, which the Court found correct, confirmed entitlement to future interest from the date of the Additional Award (29.03.2024) until payment of the principal (23.07.2025). The Award Debtor had deducted TDS amounts of Rs. 54,06,844 and Rs. 8,56,800 from payments toward the decretal sum. The Court observed that under established law, no tax is deductible at source from amounts payable under a decree or arbitral award unless expressly authorized by statute. Consequently, the Award Debtor is obligated to refund the erroneously deducted TDS amounts.
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