The Supreme Court has dismissed an arbitration petition filed under Section 11(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, holding that the claim was hopelessly barred by limitation, and therefore not fit for reference to arbitration.
The petition was filed by a United Kingdom resident, who had entered into a partnership agreement with J. Xavier Jayarajan for a real estate project in Bengaluru in 2014. The petitioner claimed to have invested about ₹2.31 crore and alleged that the respondent failed to transfer his profit share as stipulated in the agreement.
The Bench of CJI B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran noted that the property in question was purchased on May 4, 2016, and the last payment received by the petitioner was on August 4, 2017. However, the notice invoking arbitration was issued only on December 9, 2020, well beyond the prescribed three-year limitation period under the Limitation Act, 1963.
The Court further noted that the petitioner had first filed a police complaint and later a private complaint under Section 200 CrPC in 2017, which was dismissed. It observed that even if the limitation period were computed from that stage, the claim would still be barred by limitation
Dismissing the petition, the Bench remarked that even the initial notice of arbitration and the subsequent petition filed before the Karnataka High Court in 2022 were inordinately delayed, confirming the claim’s staleness.
Appearances
Mr. S. Krishnan, Advocate for the Petitioner.
Mr. P. Ramesh, Advocate for the Respondent.
