The Supreme Court on Monday disposed of an arbitration petition arising out of a long-standing joint venture dispute, directing the Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA) to appoint a former Supreme Court judge as the sole arbitrator.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant, Justice Dipankar Datta, and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a petition filed by Kirloskar Brothers Limited and another party, stemming from disputes under a joint venture agreement executed in 1988 and subsequent developments that led to multiple proceedings before various fora, including the NCLT, Mumbai, and a Commercial Court in Pune.
The Court noted that the Commercial Court, Pune, by an order dated May 10, 2024, had already referred the disputes to arbitration, while keeping certain objections raised by one of the respondents open for consideration by the arbitral tribunal.
Following the referral, the parties filed their statements of claim and proposed the name of an arbitrator. However, a dispute arose regarding the deposit of arbitration costs and expenses, as one of the respondents declined to pay its share in advance.
Recording this position, the Court observed that in such a situation, the only recourse available to the arbitrator would be to proceed in accordance with the ICA Rules and include the arbitration costs and expenses in the final award.
The Bench directed the ICA to appoint a former judge of the Supreme Court as the sole arbitrator. It further clarified that all issues relating to the parties’ proportionate liability for arbitration costs and expenses would remain open and be adjudicated by the arbitral tribunal.
With these directions and clarifications, the petition was disposed of.
Appearances:
For Petitioner(s) :Mr. A.N. Haksar, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Ujjwal A. Rana, Adv.; Mr. Himanshu Mehta, Adv.; Mr. Vibhor Jain, Adv.; M/s. Gagrat & Co., AOR
For Respondent(s) :Mr. Mayank Pandey, AOR; Ms. Yasheeka Garg, Adv.; Mr. Shivraj Singh Tomar, Adv.
Mr. Arun, Adv.; Mr. Vijay Nair, Adv.; Mr. Rajesh P., AOR; Mr. Manoranjan Sharma, Adv.; Mr. Rajat Joneja, Adv.; Mr. Anmol Kumar, Adv.; Mr. Palash Singhai, AOR; Mr. Saurav Agrawal, Adv.; Mr. Abhishek Swaroop, Adv.; Ms. Sanya Sud, AOR; Ms. Raadhika Chawla, Adv.; Mr. Harsh Khabar, Adv.; Ms. Anadi Mishra, Adv.
