REUNION ENGINEERING CO PVT LTD Vs. NBCC LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition has been filed under Section 34 read with Sections 13 & 16 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the Act) to seek the setting aside of the award dated 25.03.2004 made by the sole arbitrator Sh. A.K. Palit in respect of the claims made by the respondent M/s NBCC Limited against the petitioner herein. By the impugned award the learned arbitrator has awarded an amount of Rs. 1,68,48,585/- to the respondent NBCC.

(2.) The respondent claimant had filed the aforesaid arbitration claim and its case as per the statement of claim was that the petitioner was one of the sub-contractors appointed by the respondent contractor to do the electrical works in two hotels being constructed by it in Iraq. One was a four star hotel at Mosul and another was a three star hotel at Dokan.

(3.) According to the respondent, one M/s A.M. Sulaiman & Company, which had dealings with the petitioner in Iraq, had obtained a money decree against the petitioner from the Court in Iraq under the Iraqi law. In execution of the said decree, the accounts of the respondent had been attached and recovery made therefrom as, by the time the decree came to be executed, the petitioner was no longer present in Iraq and, therefore, the decree could not be executed against the petitioner directly. The case of the respondent was that under its contract with the petitioner, if the respondent incurred any liability on account of the petitioner, the petitioner was liable for the same.