The Sports Authority Of India vs A & A Enterprises
1995 Latest Caselaw 678 Del

JUDGMENT

Jaspal Singh, J.

(1) This is a petition under Section 20 of the Arbitration Act. None is present on behalf of the respondent today. On the last date of hearing also none was present on its behalf. Even counter affidavits by way of evidence have not been filed by it despite last opportunity having been granted.

(2) In support of its case the petitioner has placed on the record an affidavit of one Shri Rajesh Dhingra which shows that the petitioner had appointed the respondent as an agent for running of sports raffle and with regard to the same had entered into an agreement with it on 11th May, 1984. The said agreement was to be valid for a period of one year and the raffle for the period covered by the agreement was to be run under the name and style of National Sports Raffle. The date of the draw was fixed as 25th July, 1984 initially but later extended to 29th September, 1984. The draw was to be conducted at New Delhi in the manner as stipulated in the agreement and soon thereafter the result of the draw was to be communicated to the respondent who was to make arrangements for its publication. It is claimed by the petitioner that as against the already sold National Sports Raffle tickets none came forward to claim any of the prizes as against the winning tickets referred to in paragraph 12 of the affidavit which resulted in an unclaimed amount of Rs. 13,80,000.00 out of which, according to the petitioner, it was entitled to a sum of Rs. 6,90,000 .00 . The grievance of the petitioner is that the respondent has withheld the amount due to it and consequently disputes and differences have arisen between the parties which according to it fall within the ambit and scope of the arbitration agreement contained in the agreement referred to above.

(3) The perusal of the agreement in question goes to show that it contains an arbitration clause which runs as under:

"IN case of any difference or dispute between the parties under this agreement, the same shall be referred to arbitration as per provisions of Arbitration Act, 1940."

(4) In view of the evidence on the record and as the respondent has not come forward to contest the petition, I allow the petition and direct the respondent to file the arbitration agreement. Mr. Justice G.C. Jain (retired) is appointed as the Arbitrator to enter into the reference and make the award within the statutory period. Fee shall be fixed by the Arbitrator himself which shall be paid by the petitioner but may ultimately be adjusted towards the costs. The order is passed ex-parte against the respondent.