VIOM NETWORK LTD Vs. S TEL PVT LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The common objection of the respondent S Tel Pvt. Ltd. to all these petitions is that, notwithstanding the existence of the arbitration clause in the agreement, subject matter of each of these petitions, between the petitioner / its predecessor and the respondent, the remedy of arbitration under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Arbitration Act) is not available for the reason of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) having the exclusive jurisdiction over the disputes raised, under Section 14 read with Section 15 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (TRAI Act).

(2.) Both the petitioners i.e. Viom Network Ltd. and Bharti Infratel Ltd. are a Telecom Infrastructure Service Provider registered as Infrastructure Provider Category-I (IP-I) with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and are engaged in the business of building, owning or validly possessing and operating passive infrastructure sites and providing passive telecom infrastructure service to various telecom operators. The respondent S Tel Pvt. Ltd. was on the contrary, a telecom operator, having acquired Unified Access Service Licences to establish, install, operate and maintain Unified Access Service in the areas / circles of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Northeast and Assam. The licences of the respondent S Tel Pvt. Ltd. were however cancelled following the orders of the Supreme Court.

(3.) Under each agreement, titled "Master Services Agreement", containing the arbitration clause, the petitioners Viom Network Ltd. and Bharti Infratel Ltd. had agreed to, i) make available and provide to the respondent S Tel Pvt. Ltd. access to their passive infrastructure sites to install S Tel's equipment and to operate and maintain the same; and ii) provide specified operation and maintenance services at each of the said sites.