SIRAJUDEEN KASIM Vs. PARAMOUNT INVESTMENTS LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition has been filed under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter, "the said Act") by the Petitioner praying for appointment of an arbitrator to adjudicate the claims and disputes between the petitioner and the respondent as the parties have been unable to concur up the arbitrator.

(2.) The first petitioner (hereinafter, P1) is Sirajuddin Kasim, an Indian, who is the Director, Promoter and shareholder of the second petitioner holding 75% of issued share capital of the second petitioner (hereinafter P2). P2 is a company incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Singapore and inter alia deals and trades in cotton, timber, logging, acquisition, operation and sale of oil and gas assets, mining of Manganese and other metals. The respondent on the other hand is a company incorporated under the Laws of Mauritius. The respondent is engaged inter alia in the business of making investments by way of equities in private and public companies on a negotiated basis.

(3.) The petitioners' case is that the understanding between the parties was that the respondent would procure farm out transactions of oil and gas blocks for P2. For such farm out transactions, the respondent would be paid a commission separately. On the date of the Shareholders' Agreement (SHA), P2 was allotted oil and gas blocks in the Republic of Gabon. There were proposed oil blocks to be procured by execution of Production Sharing Contract ("PSC") in Brunei as well as in Tajikistan. In their affidavit the respondent admitted this arrangement between the petitioners and the respondent and also admitted the receipt in the name of Valpro, a sum of US $ 625,000, claiming that the same was paid by the petitioners for services rendered in relation to the farm out contracts.