Legal Commentary: Stamping Requirements for Arbitral Award Enforcement

Arbitration proceedings ought to resemble a 400-metre race - quick, direct and unhindered. In India, however, they have turned into something closer to a steeplechase, littered with hurdles. The recent judgment of the Delhi High Court in URC Construction (P) Ltd v. Airports Authority of India, pronounced on September 1, 2026, on the stamping of an arbitral award for enforcement proceedings under Section 36 of the Arbitration and Conciliation (A&C) Act, 1996, adds one more such hurdle.The tension between the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 and the A&C Act is not new. Whether a court can appoint an arbitrator under Section 11 of the A&C Act where the agreement is unstamped was hotly debated earlier. In NN Global v. Indo Unique Flame, a Constitution Bench, by a 3:2 majority, held that in case of an unstamped agreement, a High Court can proceed further under Section 11 of the A&C Act only once a certificate has been issued under Section 42(2) of the Stamp Act. In an earlier critique, I had observed that our approach remains rooted centuries back despite technological advancement and developments in arbitration law. Finally, In Re: Interplay between Arbitration Agreements under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 and the Indian Stamp Act, a seven-judge bench held that arbitration clauses in unstamped or inadequately stamped agreements are nonetheless enforceable at the pre-referral stage under Section 11 of the A&C Act. The Court observed that business and commer