India, April 30 -- A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled by a 4-1 majority that appellate courts can modify arbitral awards "under certain circumstances", ending uncertainty over the extent of the court's power in interfering with the awards under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

The bench, however, underlined that such power was limited and must be exercised with "great caution".

A detailed judgement is awaited.

Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and justices BR Gavai, Sanjay Kumar and AG Masih held that such limited power to modify arbitral awards could be exercised in circumstances where the award is severable, for correcting typographical or clerical errors, for correcting or modifying...