ARUN DEV UPADHYAYA Vs. INTEGRATED SALES SERVICE LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Aggrieved by the order dated 23.06.2016 passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Nagpur Bench, Nagpur in C.A.M. No. 34 of 2016 in Arbitration Appeal No.3 of 2016 rejecting the preliminary objection raised by the appellant and further being dissatisfied with the order dated 15.07.2016 expressing disinclination to entertain the Civil Miscellaneous Application (Review), the present appeals, by special leave, have been preferred for annulling the same.

(2.) The facts which are relevant to be stated for adjudication of the appeals are that an award was passed in favour of the 1 st respondent in ICDR Case No. 50-181-T-00327-09 by the International Arbitration Tribunal (for short, "the tribunal") making the appellant the DMC Management Consultants Limited and another jointly and severally liable to pay USD 6,948,100 within ten days from the date of passing of the award.

(3.) It is the case of the respondent that the international arbitration award had attained finality as the appellant herein had not challenged it under Delaware Law which is the applicable law. On 29.04.2010, the 1st respondent filed an application under Sections 47 and 49 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (for brevity, "the 1996 Act") for enforcement of the Award before the District Judge, Nagpur and the proceeding continued before the concerned District Judge till the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 (for short, "2015 Act") came into force with effect from 23 rd October 2015, by which the High Court was conferred with the original jurisdiction in case of International Commercial Arbitration. After the 2015 Act came into force, the 1st respondent filed Misc. Civil Application No. 1319 of 2015 before the High Court for enforcement of the award. The Learned Single Judge by his final order dated 18.04.2016 came to hold that the award dated 28.03.2010 was enforceable against the DMC Management Consultants Limited and passed a decree against it in terms of the award. However, the learned single judge opined that the award was not enforceable in India against the other respondent as the arbitral tribunal could not have passed the award against them. The opinion expressed by the learned Single Judge reads as follows:-