1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY,
NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR
Misc. Civil Application No. 570 of 2017
Applicant : M/s Shree Mahavir Servo Petro Point, through
its Proprietor, Shri Bindeshwariprasad Gupta,
aged major, Occ: Business, resident of Shri Ganesh
Bhawan, Gurudwara Road, D.G. Tukum,
Chandrapur
Versus
Respondents: 1) Indian Oil Corporation, through its
Chief Divisional Retail Sales Manager, I.O.C.L.
Nagpur Divisional Office, Akarshan Busiplex,
26, Central Bazar Road, Ramdaspeth, Nagpur
2) The Executive Director, Maharashtra State
Office, Indian Oil Bhawan, Plot No. 33, Gun
Black, Bandra Curla Complex, Bandra East,
Mumbai-400051
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Shri A. R. Wagh, Advocate for applicant Shri Rohit Joshi, Advocate for respondents Coram : S. B. Shukre, J Dated : 24th November 2017 Oral Judgment
1. Rule. Heard forthwith by consent of parties.
2. By the present application, appointment of Arbitrator has ::: Uploaded on - 27/11/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 29/11/2017 01:18:08 ::: 2 been sought for resolution of two distinct disputes arising from two agreements, one relating to appointment of applicant as dealer of respondent no. 1 and the other relating to grant of lease by the applicant to respondent no. 1. These agreements dated 1 st April 2004 and 26th December 2003 respectively contain an arbitration clause. These agreements show that Director (Marketing) of the respondent Corporation and its Managing Director are to be appointed as respective Arbitrators to arbitrate upon the disputes arising from the dealership agreement and lease agreement. None of these authorities can be appointed as arbitrator in view of the provisions of Section 12 (5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and, therefore, now this Court is required to exercise its jurisdiction under Section 11 of the Act.
3. For resolution of dispute arising from the dealership agreement, both the parties are in agreement upon the name of Shri Moreshwar Deorao Kadukar, retired additional District & Sessions Judge to be appointed as Arbitrator. This has also been indicated by the respondent Corporation in its letter dated 13.9.2016 (Annexure-H).
4. Shri Moreshwar Deorao Kadukar, retired Additional District & Sessions Judge is appointed as Arbitrator to arbitrate upon the dispute between the parties arising out of dealership agreement subject to the condition that process fee of Rs. 15000/- shall be deposited in this Court by the applicant within three weeks from the date of this order. If such ::: Uploaded on - 27/11/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 29/11/2017 01:18:08 ::: 3 deposit is not made, this order appointing the arbitrator shall stand cancelled without reference to the Court and if the deposit is made within the stipulated period, the order of arbitration shall be communicated to Shri Kadukar who shall then act in the matter by following the provisions of Section 12 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
5. As regards the prayer for appointment of arbitrator in the matter of dispute relating to lease agreement, I am of the view that this issue being squarely covered by the Full Bench decision of this Court in Central Warehousing Corporation v. Fortpoint Automotive Pvt. Ltd. reported in 2010 (1) Mh. L. J. 658, jurisdiction of the Small Cause Court which is available at Chandrapur, is not ousted and the applicant is free to take recourse to appropriate proceedings before the Small Cause Court or a Civil Court invested with the powers under the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act at Chandrapur within whose territorial jurisdiction the property is situated.
6. In the result, application is partly allowed as indicated in paragraphs 4 and 5 above. Rule is made absolute accordingly with no order as to costs.
S. B. SHUKRE, J joshi ::: Uploaded on - 27/11/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 29/11/2017 01:18:08 :::