B. S. N. L. EMPLOYEES WELFARE HOUSING CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LTD Vs. ORNICA BUILDERS AND DEVELOPERS PVT LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Civil Miscellaneous Petition is filed under Sec. 11(5) and (6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act' for short) seeking appointment of a sole Arbitrator in terms of the arbitration Clause contained in the Memorandum of Understanding (hereinafter referred to as 'MoU', for shot) dtd. 28/12/2009 and one more MoU dtd. 4/5/2012.

(2.) The petitioner is a Co-operative society, which entered into an agreement with the respondent-company seeking services of the respondent for acquisition of lands and development of a residential layout for the purpose of allotment of sites to the members of the society. The parties entered into a MoU dtd. 28/12/2009 at Annexure-B. However, due to escalation of the cost of lands and other material for development, at the mutual agreement of the parties, the parties herein entered into one more MoU dtd. 4/5/2012 at Annexure-C. Thereafter, by way of an acknowledgement made on the MoU, the parties renewed the MoU on 9/10/2015. However, the respondent failed to complete the project and handover the developed sites to the society.

(3.) Learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that there were several communications between the parties as could be seen at Annexures-D series, Annexures-F series and Annexure-G. Learned Counsel submits that in its communication dtd. 24/9/2021 at Annexure-G, the respondent has confirmed the payments made by the petitioner-society to the respondent-company. Nevertheless, unreasonable claims started to come from the respondent-company and therefore without having any further option, the petitioner-society invoked the arbitration clause contained in the MoU. Learned Counsel submits that in Clause-12 of the MoU dtd. 28/12/2009, provision is made for resolution of the dispute between parties through arbitration and in accordance with the provisions contained in the Act, 1996. Similarly, in the MoU dtd. 4/5/2012, in Clause-12, provision is made for resolution of the dispute under the provisions of the Act, 1996. Learned Counsel submits that a claim was raised on behalf of the petitioner-society on 25/9/2020. The respondent, in its communication dtd. 24/9/2021 acknowledged the receipt of Rs.21,85,80,000.00 (Rupees Twenty one Crores Eighty five Lakhs and Eighty Thousands only) from the petitioner-society, but made unreasonable claims. Following the said communication dtd. 24/9/2021, the petitioner-society got issued a notice dtd. 22/9/2021 invoking the arbitration clause and called upon the respondent-company to come forward to appoint an arbitrator to resolve the dispute. When the respondent did not come forward to appoint an arbitrator, this Civil Miscellaneous Petition is filed.