As per case facts an arbitral award was passed in favour of a construction company under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act with the respondent corporation participating without ever raising an ... objection regarding the lack of jurisdiction based on the applicability of the M P Act either during the arbitration or in its initial Section petition The corporation later introduced this objection after a subsequent court ruling clarified the supremacy of the State Act The High Court ultimately set aside the award purely on the ground of lack of jurisdiction prompting the company's appeal The question arose whether an arbitral award can be annulled solely on the ground of lack of jurisdiction under a State Act even when the objecting party failed to raise this plea before the Arbitral Tribunal as required by Section of the Central Act Finally the Supreme Court set aside the High Court's order holding that the case is squarely covered by the precedent in L G Chaudhary II which carved out a limited exception stating that where an award has already been made and no objection to jurisdiction was taken at the relevant stage the award cannot be annulled solely on that ground The Court further clarified that while jurisdictional pleas can be raised under Section they are subject to the doctrine of waiver and are only permitted if the party shows a strong and good reason for their failure to raise it before the Tribunal which the failure to argue the applicability of a State Act is not considered to be

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