Item No.6
THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HIMA KOHLI
AND
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE B. VIJAYSEN REDDY
COMCA.No.23 of 2021
JUDGMENT: (Per the Hon'ble the Chief Justice Hima Kohli)
1. The appellant is aggrieved by the order dated 17.03.2021
passed by the Special Court for Trial and Disposal of Commercial
Disputes at Hyderabad whereunder, C.O.P.No.96 of 2020 filed by it
under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (for
short 'the A&C Act') praying inter alia for nine (9) interim measures,
has been partly allowed by granting prayers (c), (d) and (f), while
declining prayers (a), (b), (e), (g), (h), (i), (j) and (k).
2. At the outset, we have enquired from learned counsel for the
parties as to whether the Arbitration Tribunal has been constituted to
adjudicate the claims and/or counter claims raised by the parties
against each other only to be informed that the names of some retired
Judges were exchanged by the parties, but there was no consensus. As
a result, the appellant had to file a petition under Section 11 of the
A&C Act for appointment of a Sole Arbitrator, registered as
Arbitration Petition No.47 of 2021, which is listed before the learned
Single Judge on 04.06.2021.
3. To cut short the delay and to expedite the initiation of the
arbitration proceedings, we have requested learned counsel for the
parties to suggest an agreed name.
COMCA.No.23 of 2021 Page 1 of 3
4. Mr. Jayant K.Mehta, learned Senior Advocate appearing for the
appellant, Mr. Sivaraju Srinivas, learned Advocate appearing for the
respondent No.2 and Mr. M.V.Pratap Kumar, learned counsel for the
respondents No.1, 3 and 4 have mulled over the names coming from each other and have finally agreed on the name of Hon'ble Justice Bhavani Prasad, Retired Judge, common High Court of Andhra Pradesh, to act as the Sole Arbitrator.
5. Ordered accordingly. Justice Bhavani Prasad, Retired Judge, is appointed as the Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate all the inter se disputes between the parties subject matter of the MOU's dated 11.09.2019 and 15.06.2020. It shall be for the Sole Arbitrator to fix his own fees.
6. Learned counsel for the parties state in unison that they will approach Hon'ble Justice Bhavani Prasad (Retd) with a request to enter into the reference at the earliest and they shall file claims/counter claims as also invoke the provisions of Section 17 of the A&C Act for seeking interim measures, as may be considered expedient.
7. Learned counsel for the parties further state that in view of the fact that they have now agreed on the name of the Sole Arbitrator, the appellant will not proceed any further with the present appeal; nor do the respondents propose to pursue the appeals in the pipeline against the impugned order dated 17.03.2021. The appellant is directed to file an application for seeking withdrawal of Arbitration Petition No.97 of 2021, which is listed before the learned Single Judge on 04.06.2021. COMCA.No.23 of 2021 Page 2 of 3
8. Parties have further agreed that the impugned order shall continue to remain in force till the application under Section 17 of the A&C Act proposed to be moved by them before the Sole Arbitrator is decided. Both the parties assure this court that they shall not delay the proceedings before the Arbitral Tribunal and file their claims and counter claims in a time bound manner.
9. While disposing of the present appeal, along with the pending applications, in terms of the statement of the parties recorded hereinabove, it is made clear that if the parties approach the learned Sole Arbitrator for seeking interim measures, he shall decide the said application uninfluenced by the observations made in the impugned order.
_________________ HIMA KOHLI, CJ ______________________ B. VIJAYSEN REDDY, J 28.04.2021 Lur COMCA.No.23 of 2021 Page 3 of 3