In short. If the claimant owes you something too, you don't need a fresh case. You raise it as a counter claim, inside the same arbitration at the Delhi International Arbitration Centre, filed with your statement of defence. This guide is for the business on the receiving end of a DIAC notice or a statement of claim. Your response to the request is due in 30 days. The tribunal then gives a date for the full defence and counter claim, usually a few weeks after its first procedural meeting. Don't wait. Get the contract, invoices and emails out, and check how old your own claims are.
Is this your situation?
- A courier from DIAC arrived at your registered office with a request for arbitration that names your company as respondent.
- They say you owe them money. You think it's the other way round, and that their shoddy work cost you more than the invoice.
- You'd held back money for penalties, delay, rejected goods and the advance you paid, and now they want all of it.
- Looking at the claim, you suspect it's time-barred, outside the arbitration clause, or filed against the wrong company in your group.
- The tribunal has given you a date for the defence. The project manager who ran the contract left eight months ago.
- You can't decide whether to counter claim in this arbitration or start your own case.
- DIAC has written asking for a deposit on your counter claim, and nobody is sure what happens if it isn't paid.
The short version: defence and counter claim at DIAC
Your answer to the claim is called the statement of defence. Any claim you have against the claimant travels with it as a counter claim. That's not optional timing. Rule 17.1 of the DIAC (Arbitration Proceedings) Rules, 2023 says the set-off or counter claim, if any, shall be filed along with the statement of defence. One tribunal hears both, and it can pass a single award that nets one against the other.
There's an earlier stage first. Under Rule 5.1 you have 30 days from receiving the request for arbitration to send DIAC your response. File nothing, and the rules presume you've consented to the arbitration. Rule 5.2 lets you put your defence and counter claim into that response if you're ready. Most respondents aren't, and they use the response instead to state their position, nominate an arbitrator or comment on the claimant's choice, and reserve every objection they might later want to press.
The full defence comes later, on the date the tribunal fixes at its first procedural meeting. Miss it, and subject to the tribunal's decision, your right to file a defence, set-off or counter claim can be foreclosed (Rule 17.2). That's the biggest single risk you face as a respondent. Everything on this page is about avoiding it.
The first 30 days after the DIAC notice
Take the 30 days seriously. Note the date the request reached your registered office or your authorised email. That's when the count starts. Not the day someone in management finally opened it. Get the full set of papers to your lawyer the same week.
Your response to the request has four jobs. One, it puts on record where you stand on the arbitration agreement and jurisdiction, so nothing gets treated as a waiver. Two, it deals with forming the tribunal. If the clause says three arbitrators, you'll usually nominate one. If it says a sole arbitrator, you respond to the names the claimant has picked from the DIAC panel. Three, it gives a short account of your defence. Four, it signals that a counter claim is coming, with a rough value, so DIAC can plan the fee assessment.
Silence gets you nothing. The arbitration carries on. DIAC goes ahead and appoints the tribunal, and when the arbitrator first opens the file, only the claimant's version is in it. If the claimant has already proposed names, our guide to how DIAC appoints arbitrators explains that step.
The provisions that govern your defence
Section 23, Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
Under Section 23(1), you must state your defence within the time the parties agreed or the tribunal fixed. Section 23(2A), added in 2015, lets you file a counter claim or plead a set-off, and the tribunal will decide it if it falls within the scope of the arbitration agreement. Section 23(3) allows amendment unless the tribunal thinks the delay makes it inappropriate. Section 23(4) says the statement of claim and defence should be completed within six months from the date the arbitrator, or all the arbitrators, received written notice of appointment.
Section 16, Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
The tribunal can rule on its own jurisdiction, including objections that there's no valid arbitration agreement. You have to raise a lack-of-jurisdiction plea no later than when you submit your statement of defence. Having appointed an arbitrator doesn't stop you raising it. A plea that the tribunal is exceeding its authority has to be raised as soon as the problem comes up.
Section 25(b), Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
If you don't file your defence in time and can't show sufficient cause, the tribunal carries on. It won't treat that failure as an admission of the claim. But it does have discretion to treat your right to file a defence as forfeited.
Rules 5, 17 and 18, DIAC (Arbitration Proceedings) Rules, 2023
Rule 5 gives you 30 days to respond to the request, and the response can include your defence and counter claim. Rule 17.1 says the defence is due within the time fixed at the first procedural meeting, with any set-off or counter claim filed alongside. Under Rule 17.2, delay can lead to foreclosure. Rule 17.3 requires the defence to be served on the claimant in advance, with proof of service filed at the Centre. Rule 17.4 makes the claimant reply to the counter claim, and if it doesn't reply in time, it may lose that reply. Rule 18 says amendments need the tribunal's leave, can be refused for delay or prejudice, and can't take a claim outside the arbitration agreement.
What goes into a statement of defence at DIAC
A good defence answers the claim paragraph by paragraph, and then tells your own side in plain order. The Code of Civil Procedure doesn't bind an arbitral tribunal (Section 19 of the Act), so there's no rigid format. DIAC tribunals still expect the discipline of a court pleading. Admit what's true. Deny what's false, and say why it's false. Say what you don't know. Flatly denying an invoice your own accounts team acknowledged in an email will cost you credibility for the rest of the case.
This order works well. Preliminary objections first: jurisdiction, limitation, wrong party, claim outside the clause. Then a short summary of your case, your reply on the facts, a reply on each head of claim with the amount you accept or dispute, brief legal submissions, and the reliefs you want. File the documents you rely on, with an index. Most tribunals want a list of witnesses later on, but naming the people who know the facts early helps you plan.
Use numbers. If they claim Rs 1.4 crore and you accept Rs 30 lakh but dispute the rest, say exactly that. A defence that admits nothing at all usually makes the tribunal think something's being hidden. And frankly, an honest admission of the undisputed part, alongside a clear counter claim, tends to push a case towards settlement faster than a blanket denial does.
When Advocate B.K. Singh reads a statement of claim on a respondent's behalf, he checks three things first. The date of each invoice or breach, for limitation. Whether every claimant entity was actually a party to the contract. And whether the claimant has quietly left out a document that helps you, like a rejection note or a credit note. Those points often count for more than pages of narrative.
Defences that tend to matter in business arbitrations
- Limitation. Claims more than three years old, counted from when the right to sue arose, are usually time-barred under the Limitation Act, 1963. It applies to arbitrations through Section 43 of the Act. The claim counts as made on the date the notice invoking arbitration was received (Section 21).
- The goods or the work were defective. Rejection notes, inspection reports, photos and complaints you sent at the time count for far more than complaints you raise for the first time in the defence.
- It's already been paid, or adjusted. Bank statements, ledger reconciliations, credit notes. Plenty of claims shrink sharply once someone reconciles the accounts line by line.
- The contract caps or excludes it. Look for a limitation of liability clause, an exclusion of consequential loss, or a notice requirement the claimant never complied with.
- Liquidated damages for delay. If the contract lets you deduct for delay, plead the deduction as a set-off and prove the delay with dates.
- Wrong party. Maybe the claim is against a group company that never signed. Or the claimant isn't the entity that actually contracted with you.
- No arbitration agreement, or a claim outside it. Raise it under Section 16 in the defence itself. Not later.
Jurisdiction objections: put them in the defence or lose them
If you think the tribunal has no jurisdiction, say so in your statement of defence at the latest. Section 16(2) is strict. File a defence on merits without the objection, then raise it once the evidence has gone badly, and you'll usually be told you've waived it. You can object and defend on merits in the same document, and in our view you always should. Do both.
Suppose the tribunal says no to your objection. You don't get to appeal then and there (Section 16(5) and (6)). The arbitration runs to an award, and you carry the objection forward into a Section 34 challenge against it. It cuts the other way too. If the tribunal agrees it has no jurisdiction, the claimant's remedy is an appeal under Section 37. For how the later challenge works, and why the objection must already be on the record, read challenging a DIAC award under Section 34.
Don't let the objection hold up your defence. Some respondents file only the objection and wait for a ruling before pleading on merits. Unless the tribunal has specifically allowed that, the defence date keeps running. Rule 17.2 foreclosure is a real risk.
When does a counter claim make sense?
File one when you have a claim of your own against the claimant, arising under the same contract or arbitration agreement, that you can actually prove. The usual ones we see: liquidated damages for delay, what it cost you to get defective work redone by someone else, refund of an advance, losses from a wrongful termination, and the price of goods you supplied under the same contract that the claimant never paid for.
Don't counter claim for show. Every counter claim comes with a deposit to pay, facts to prove and a costs risk if it fails. Rule 32.3 of the DIAC Rules allows the tribunal, when it decides costs, to look at whether anyone brought frivolous claims or counter claims. Section 31A of the Act starts from the position that the losing side pays. Put those together and an inflated counter claim that collapses can turn a close loss into a costly one.
It has to fall within the scope of the arbitration agreement (Section 23(2A); Rule 18.1 says no amendment can take a claim outside it). If your claim comes from a different contract with a different dispute clause, you may need to pursue it separately. You can only counter claim against a party to the arbitration, too. Is your real claim against a director, or a sister company that never signed? Take advice before pleading it. Bringing in non-signatories raises separate questions, and the tribunal will decide those first.
Value a counter claim like any other claim. If you want interest, plead the rate, the period and the basis. Section 31(7) of the Act lets the tribunal award interest up to the award and after it. Unless the award directs otherwise, post-award interest defaults to two percent above the current rate of interest prevailing on the award date.
Counter claim, set-off, or a separate arbitration?
A set-off is a defence. It reduces or wipes out what you owe the claimant, but it can't get you a money award beyond the claim. A counter claim is different. It stands on its own, and if it succeeds for more than the claim, the tribunal can award you the difference. So if what you're owed is less than what you accept you owe, a set-off is usually enough. If it's more, or you need a declaration or some other relief, file a counter claim.
Most respondents plead both. In the alternative. The set-off means you don't pay the claimant anything until your deduction is decided. The counter claim picks up the excess. Under Section 23(2A), the tribunal has to decide either one, provided it falls within the arbitration agreement.
A separate arbitration is rarely a good idea when both disputes come from the same contract. Two tribunals can reach different findings on the same facts, and you end up paying two sets of fees for the privilege. And the claimant may argue that your later claim should have been raised in the first case. If the contracts are different but connected, DIAC can be asked whether one tribunal should hear both, but that turns on consent and on the clauses. Get advice on your particular clauses before you decide.
Limitation for a counter claim: which date counts
Here the clock usually stops on the day your counter claim is filed with the tribunal. The day the claimant began the arbitration is irrelevant to your claim. That's the rule from State of Goa v. Praveen Enterprises (2011), and the Supreme Court followed it in Voltas Ltd. v. Rolta India Ltd. (2014). One exception exists. If you'd already sent your own notice seeking arbitration of that same claim before filing the counter claim, the earlier notice date is what counts.
This catches a lot of businesses out. Say your liquidated damages claim arose in early 2023 and you file the counter claim in mid-2026. It may already be time-barred, even though the claimant's arbitration started back in 2025. If your own claim is getting close to the three-year mark, think about sending a notice invoking arbitration for it now, naming the claim and the amount. Don't wait for the defence date. In Voltas, the counter claim was allowed only up to the amount stated in the earlier notice. So be specific.
The Delhi High Court has held that where an arbitration is already pending between the parties, you don't need a separate Section 21 notice before raising a counter claim in it (Railtel Corporation of India Ltd. v. Primatel Fibcom Ltd., 2025). That ruling is about whether you can raise the counter claim at all. It says nothing about limitation. It gives you no extra time.
Written acknowledgments of the debt, and part payments, can restart the limitation period under Sections 18 and 19 of the Limitation Act. Search your inbox. Our guide to limitation for recovering money explains the three-year rule and how it gets extended.
What a counter claim costs at DIAC
Arbitrators' fees at DIAC are set by the DIAC (Administrative Costs and Arbitrators' Fees) Rules, 2018. Rule 3(ii) says the fee is assessed on the total of the claims and counter claims. So a counter claim pushes up the fee for the whole arbitration. Expect a revised deposit demand. The Centre publishes a fee schedule tied to the sum in dispute. Check the current one before you put a value on your counter claim. Our guide to DIAC arbitration fees explains the schedule.
Usually each side pays half the deposit. That isn't fixed, though. Rule 33.1 of the 2023 Rules allows the Centre to set one deposit for the claim and a different one for the counter claim, and Section 38(1) of the Act says the same. And when one side refuses to pay, the proviso to Rule 3(ii) of the 2018 Rules lets DIAC split the assessment and bill each party for its own claim. The Delhi High Court upheld such an order in Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd. v. Delhi International Arbitration Centre (W.P.(C) 3440/2026, 18 March 2026). The respondent in that case was happy to fund its own counter claim. It just wouldn't fund the claim against it.
If the deposit on your counter claim isn't paid within 30 days of falling due, Rule 33.5 lets the Centre or the tribunal terminate the arbitration as to that counter claim. The rule says you can bring the claim again in other proceedings. By then, though, limitation may have run out. And if it's the claimant who isn't paying, see our guide on what happens when the other side won't pay its share of DIAC fees.
Putting a low value on the counter claim to save fees is a false economy. Under Rule 3 of the 2018 Rules, the Co-ordinator can reassess an undervalued claim and demand a revised fee. And the tribunal won't award more than you claimed. Value it honestly.
Time and cost at a glance, for a DIAC respondent
| Stage | Time it usually takes | Costs involved (no lawyer fees shown) |
|---|---|---|
| Response to the request for arbitration (Rule 5.1) | 30 days from the day you receive the request | No DIAC fee for the response itself. Just drafting and pulling documents together |
| Tribunal constituted | A few weeks. Longer if names are fought over or someone raises a challenge | Your share of the DIAC administrative cost and the arbitrators' fee deposit, as assessed |
| First procedural meeting | Usually soon after the tribunal is formed. The timetable gets fixed here | Nothing beyond the deposits |
| Statement of defence and counter claim (Rule 17.1) | Whatever the tribunal fixes, often four to eight weeks after the claim is filed. Extensions are at its discretion | A revised deposit on claim and counter claim together, or a separate deposit on the counter claim |
| Claimant's reply to the counter claim, and rejoinders | A few weeks to a few months | More deposits, if the Centre directs them (Rule 33.4) |
| Pleadings complete (Section 23(4)) | Within six months of the arbitrators getting notice of appointment | Nil |
| Evidence, hearings and award (Section 29A) | Award due within 12 months of completion of pleadings. Six more months by consent, and after that only the court can extend | Hearing costs, witness travel, any technical evidence. Costs are ordered under Section 31A |
| Challenge to the award (Section 34) | Within three months of receiving the award, plus up to 30 days if you show sufficient cause | Court fee as per the court's schedule. Check the current figure |
From DIAC notice to a filed defence and counter claim, step by step
Write down the dates
Note the day the request for arbitration arrived and count 30 days for the Rule 5 response. Then note the date of each invoice, breach or termination in dispute, so limitation can be checked for both sides.
Pull together the paper trail
Contract, purchase orders, invoices, ledgers, emails, WhatsApp chats, inspection reports, notices. Find out who in the company knows the facts. Make sure they're still around to give evidence.
File the response to the request
Say where you stand on the arbitration agreement and jurisdiction. Deal with appointing the tribunal. Summarise your defence, and flag the counter claim with a rough value. Reserve every objection in writing.
Check limitation on your own claims
If any part of your counter claim is nearing three years, send a specific notice invoking arbitration for it now, with the amount. Don't wait for the defence date.
Go to the first procedural meeting ready
Ask for a realistic date for the defence and counter claim, given how many documents there are. Agree the document format and the order of pleadings. Getting time at this meeting is much easier than getting it by application later.
Draft the defence and counter claim as one
Preliminary objections first. Then facts, then each head of claim. Then your counter claim with its own heads, interest and reliefs. Put a number on every head and attach the documents with an index.
Serve and file on time
Serve the claimant in advance and file proof of service with DIAC (Rule 17.3). Need more time? Apply before the date runs out, with specific reasons. Never after.
Pay the counter claim deposit
Pay your share within the time DIAC gives. Leave it unpaid for 30 days past the due date and the counter claim can be terminated under Rule 33.5.
Once pleadings are done, the case moves on to admission and denial of documents, framing of issues, evidence and arguments. Our guide to the DIAC process walks you through those later stages.
Papers to gather for the defence and counter claim
The contract and their claim
- The signed contract, work order or POs, with every amendment and annexure
- The arbitration clause, and any separate letter on dispute resolution
- The request for arbitration, the statement of claim and everything filed with them
- Notices exchanged before the arbitration, including any notice invoking it
Accounts and payments
- The claimant's ledger in your books, and any reconciliation statements
- Bank statements showing what you paid
- Credit notes, debit notes, TDS certificates
- GST returns, where they show whether invoices were accepted or reversed
Backing for your counter claim
- Delay records, site diaries, dispatch and receipt registers
- Rejection notes, inspection reports, test certificates, photos
- Bills from the third party who finished or fixed the work
- Board resolution or authority letter for whoever signs the pleadings and affidavits
Electronic records
- Emails and messages in original form, with the device or account they came from
- Data exported from your ERP or Tally
- A certificate under Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 if the tribunal asks for one. Tribunals aren't strictly bound by evidence law, but a certificate takes an argument off the table
Where your defence is decided, and where it can go next
Your pleadings go to the tribunal through DIAC. The Centre runs from inside the Delhi High Court complex in New Delhi. Addresses and filing practice do change, so look at the DIAC website before you send anything. Some hearings happen in a room at the Centre. Others happen on a video link. Ask the Centre what's current. If you want to object to an arbitrator, that goes to DIAC under Rule 10 of the 2023 Rules, and we explain the process in objecting to a DIAC arbitrator.
The courts only appear around the edges. Say your counter claim needs urgent protection while the case is on. Your first stop is the tribunal, which can order interim measures under Section 17. The court can step in under Section 9, but only in limited cases. Once the award is out, any challenge is a Section 34 petition. Which court? For a commercial dispute of specified value in Delhi, Section 10 of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 decides. Above Rs 2 crore, it's the Commercial Division of the Delhi High Court. Under that figure, a district-level commercial court at Saket, Tis Hazari or one of the others (the limit may change, so check it). If the seat is Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurugram or Faridabad, the local court designated as the Commercial Court takes it. We've described listing and hearings in the High Court on our Delhi High Court Commercial Division page.
Sometimes the claimant ignores the clause altogether and files a suit. Then your tool is a Section 8 application asking the court to refer the parties to arbitration. Timing is strict. It has to be made before, or along with, your first statement on the substance of the dispute. And in a commercial suit, the 120-day clock for the written statement doesn't politely stop while that application waits. We cover this in defending a commercial suit.
Mistakes respondents make at DIAC
- Ignoring the request for arbitration. The 30 days under Rule 5.1 run whether you reply or not. And silence is presumed to be consent.
- Filing just an objection. A jurisdiction objection doesn't stop the defence date. File the defence with the objection, unless the tribunal has clearly allowed some other order.
- Saving the counter claim for later. Rule 17.1 expects it with the defence. A late one needs leave, can be refused for delay, and may be time-barred by the day you file it.
- Bare denials. Deny a document your own staff signed and you lose credibility on everything else.
- Inflating the counter claim. The fee goes up. If it fails, it can be held against you on costs under Rule 32.3.
- Not paying the counter claim deposit. After 30 days in default, the counter claim can be terminated under Rule 33.5.
- Losing your witnesses. In disputes that land on Advocate B.K. Singh's desk at the defence stage, the usual weak spot is that the project manager or accounts head who ran the contract has moved on. Get a signed note of the facts from that person early, while they'll still take your call.
How it differs for suppliers, service firms, lenders, MSMEs and large companies
A supplier accused of sending defective goods usually has a counter claim for the unpaid price of other consignments under the same contract. Check those invoices are within limitation and come under the same arbitration clause. Delivery challans and GST records are often your strongest proof of supply.
A service or IT firm accused of poor performance usually defends on scope. What did the contract actually require? What changes did the client ask for? Did the client sign off the milestones? Change requests and sign-off emails are the heart of your evidence. The counter claim is normally for unpaid milestones and work done outside the original scope.
A lender or financier in a DIAC arbitration over a loan or lease will often face arguments about how interest was calculated and whether penal charges are valid. Keep a clean statement of account showing the rate applied at each stage. Bank recovery against borrowers usually belongs in the DRT, not arbitration. Our network site drtadvocates.com covers that route.
MSMEs get an extra option. Suppose you hold a Udyam registration under the MSMED Act, 2006 and the buyer has dragged you into DIAC. You may well have a delayed-payment claim of your own. You can still take your dues to the MSME Facilitation Council under Section 18, buyer's arbitration or not, because the Supreme Court has held that Section 18 overrides a private arbitration clause. Two forums on the same facts gets messy, though. We weigh the two routes in DIAC or the MSME Facilitation Council.
Large companies and PSUs usually have internal approvals to get before a defence or counter claim can be filed, or a deposit paid. Build that into the timetable at the first procedural meeting. Tribunals are far more sympathetic to a request for time made at the start. The day before the deadline, much less so.
An invented example: the contractor's counter claim that nearly lapsed
This one is made up. A Noida electrical contractor installs wiring and panels for a Gurugram warehouse developer, under a contract with a DIAC clause. In March 2023 the developer terminates the contract, citing delay. In October 2025 it starts a DIAC arbitration claiming Rs 85 lakh, the extra cost of finishing the job through another contractor.
Its answer is that the developer's own approvals came late. It also wants money: Rs 62 lakh for work finished before termination and Rs 18 lakh of retention. The response to the request goes in inside 30 days. Then nothing much happens until February 2026, when the tribunal is finally constituted and gives April 2026 as the defence date. That's when the lawyer counts back. Unpaid work became payable on termination in March 2023. April 2026 is past three years.
So in February 2026, with weeks to spare before three years run out, the contractor sends its own notice invoking arbitration. It names the claim and puts the figure at Rs 80 lakh. When the defence goes in, the same sums appear as a counter claim, and as a set-off in the alternative. The revised deposit is paid on the day it's due. Months later the tribunal rules on limitation and, because that February notice exists, the contractor gets past it. Does it win on merits? Different question entirely. But the claim survived long enough to be heard.
What to do this week
Got a DIAC notice? Put two dates in your phone today: the day it arrived, and the day 30 days later. Get the request and its annexures to your lawyer this week. Make a list of every person who dealt with the contract. Then look at your own claims against them, and how old each one is. Anything near three years may need its own notice invoking arbitration first. Before anything else.
Then plan the defence and the counter claim as one document, valued honestly, with the deposit already in the budget. Our DIAC arbitration lawyer page explains how we handle claims and defences at the Centre. The guide to the statement of claim shows what the claimant's pleading ought to contain. That helps you spot what's missing from theirs.
If you'd like the notice, the contract and your own claim checked before the response date, send them to Advocate B.K. Singh's team through the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
What is a counter claim in a DIAC arbitration?
It's the respondent's own claim against the claimant, filed in the same DIAC arbitration with the statement of defence. Rule 17.1 of the DIAC (Arbitration Proceedings) Rules, 2023 requires any set-off or counter claim to go in with the defence. The tribunal decides both claims together.
How many days do I get to reply to a DIAC notice?
Rule 5.1 gives you 30 days from receiving the request for arbitration to file a response with DIAC. The full defence and counter claim come later, on the date the tribunal fixes at its first procedural meeting. File nothing within 30 days and you're presumed to have consented to the arbitration.
What happens if I don't file the statement of defence in time?
The case doesn't wait for you. Section 25(b) of the Act says the failure isn't an admission of the claim, but the tribunal may decide you've forfeited the right to file a defence at all. DIAC's Rule 17.2 goes further and allows foreclosure of your defence, set-off and counter claim. Running short of time? Ask for more before the date passes, and give real reasons.
Can I file a counter claim later in the arbitration?
Only with the tribunal's leave, under Section 23(3) of the Act and Rule 18 of the DIAC Rules. Leave can be refused for delay or prejudice to the claimant. A late counter claim also runs into limitation, which is counted up to the day it's filed. File it with the defence if you possibly can.
Is limitation for a counter claim counted from the date the arbitration started?
Generally, no. In State of Goa v. Praveen Enterprises (2011) and Voltas v. Rolta India (2014), the Supreme Court held that limitation for a counter claim runs up to the date it's filed before the tribunal. The exception is where you'd already raised the same claim earlier, by your own notice invoking arbitration.
Do I pay extra fees for a counter claim at DIAC?
Yes. Under Rule 3(ii) of DIAC's 2018 Fee Rules, arbitrators' fees are worked out on claim plus counter claim, so your deposit goes up. The Centre may also split the deposits, one for each side's claim. Leave yours unpaid for 30 days after it falls due and Rule 33.5 allows the counter claim to be terminated.
What's the difference between set-off and counter claim?
A set-off only reduces what you owe the claimant. It can't get you an award for more than the claim. A counter claim stands on its own, so if it succeeds for more, the tribunal can award you the balance. Many respondents plead both, in the alternative.
Can I object to the tribunal's jurisdiction and still defend on merits?
Yes. And you should do both in the same statement of defence. Section 16(2) of the Act requires the jurisdiction objection no later than the defence, and defending on merits alongside it doesn't waive the objection. If the tribunal rejects it, you can raise it again in a Section 34 challenge to the award.
Advocate B.K. Singh
Founder of B.K. Singh & Associates. MCA, LL.B., LL.M. More than twenty years in practice before the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court, district and commercial courts in Delhi NCR, and tribunals.
This guide explains the law in general terms and is not legal advice. For advice on your own papers, contact the team.