This is the part of arbitration that decides whether the whole exercise was worth anything, and it is governed by a provision that changed significantly in 2015.
When the award becomes enforceable
Under Section 36 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, where the time for making an application to set aside the award under Section 34 has expired, the award is enforced in accordance with the Civil Procedure Code, in the same manner as if it were a decree of the court. So you do not need a separate suit and you do not need the court to convert it into a decree.
A challenge no longer automatically stays it
Before the 2015 amendment, merely filing a Section 34 application operated as an automatic stay, and that was routinely abused to delay payment for years. Now, filing a challenge does not by itself stay enforcement. The award debtor must apply separately for a stay, and the court may impose conditions, commonly requiring a deposit or security for the awarded sum. For a money award the court is directed to have due regard to the provisions on stay of a money decree.
An award holder is in a much stronger position than a decree holder waiting out an appeal. Start execution as soon as the three month period expires, and if a Section 34 application is filed, resist the stay application and press for security as a condition. That single step is usually what converts an award into money.
The execution itself
File an execution petition before the court that would have jurisdiction over the subject matter, or where the assets are located. The full range of Order 21 CPC powers is available: attachment and sale of property, garnishee orders against bank accounts, attachment of salary and receivables, appointment of a receiver, and in appropriate cases arrest and detention.
As with any execution, success depends on identifying assets. Use Order 21 Rule 41 to have the award debtor examined on oath about their assets where you do not know what to attach.
Because the award is enforced as if it were a decree, the ordinary execution practice applies, and so does the ordinary homework. Annex the signed award with the date of delivery, the arbitration agreement, proof of the relevant dates, the expiry of the applicable challenge period, and copies of any challenge or stay orders, and a computation bringing principal, interest and costs to one figure as on the date of filing. Do the asset work before the first hearing: the company's filings and charge register, property records, the vehicle register, the GST registration address, and the accounts disclosed on invoices. Our guide on executing a decree and recovering money in India covers the Order 21 steps in the order they work.
Unless the award directs otherwise, a sum awarded carries interest at two per cent higher than the current rate of interest prevalent on the date of the award, from the date of the award to the date of payment. That is a statutory entitlement, separate from any pre-award interest the tribunal allowed. The Act also carries a costs regime whose general rule is that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party's costs, covering arbitrators' and institutional fees and legal expenses, with a discretion to depart from it for recorded reasons. Compute all of it into the execution petition; a great many award holders execute only for the principal.
Foreign awards
An award made in a country notified as a reciprocating territory under the New York Convention is enforced under Part II, Sections 44 to 49. The party seeking enforcement produces the original award and the arbitration agreement. Enforcement can be refused only on the narrow grounds in Section 48, which broadly mirror the Convention. Once the court is satisfied the award is enforceable, it is deemed to be a decree of that court. Note that there is no separate proceeding to "set aside" a foreign award in India; the challenge is made at the seat, and here it is resisted at the enforcement stage.
Three points of detail decide most of these applications. First, the forum is different: for the enforcement chapter the Act defines "Court" as the High Court, so a foreign award is not taken to the City Civil Court. Second, the documents are prescribed: the original award or a copy authenticated as the law of the country where it was made requires, the original arbitration agreement or a duly certified copy, and evidence that it is a foreign award, with a certified English translation where the papers are in another language. Getting authentication right at the outset saves months. Third, the award must fall within the definition: a legal relationship considered commercial under Indian law, a written agreement to which the Convention applies, and a territory the Central Government has actually notified as reciprocating. Check that notification before filing; the country being a Convention party is not by itself enough.
The grounds of resistance are limited and the burden sits on the party opposing enforcement, who must prove incapacity, invalidity of the agreement, want of proper notice or inability to present its case, an award beyond the submission, an irregular composition or procedure, or that the award has not become binding or has been set aside at the seat. Separately, the court may refuse enforcement if the subject matter is not arbitrable under Indian law, or enforcement would be contrary to the public policy of India, which is confined to fraud or corruption, contravention of the fundamental policy of Indian law, and conflict with the most basic notions of morality or justice. Our note on enforcing a foreign arbitral award in India works through each ground, and our guide to the arbitral award in India covers the form and contents that both enforcement and challenge turn on. Either way, move: interim protection under Section 9 remains available after the award until it is enforced, so if assets are moving, secure them while the execution is prepared.