UNION OF INDIA Vs. DELTON CABLE COMPANY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) At varies times, the union of India entered into three contracts with the Delton Catle Company for the purchase of certain goods to be manufactured by the company. Each of the contracts contained an arbitration clause. Disputes arose under all three of them and were refered to aroitration. The refereness were made to one and the same arbitraror. In the course of the arbitration proceedings the parties arrived at an amicabSc settlement in respect of all the dispute. It is conceded that the result of that settlement was in favour the Union of India. One term of the settlement was that :

(2.) Soon afterwards, the present application was moved in this Court by the Union of India for having the award filed and made a rule of the Court. Neither of the parties has objected to the award. When the award came before me for being made a rule 1 noticed that no stamp duty had been paid on it. Counsel for the Union of India contended that the award was exempt from payment of stamp duty by virtue of the first proviso to section 3 of the Indian Stamp Act 1899. As I was not satisfied that this claim of exemption was sound, I ordered notice to issue to Central Government counsel and counsel for Delhi Administration to appear and address me on the point. They have appeared; and, whereas Central Government counsel has argued in support of the claim for exemption, counsel for the Delhi Administration has argued against it. Although counsel for Delton Cable Company was otherwise disinterested in the question, he has, at my request, studied the point. He, too, has argued that the award is not exempt from payment of stam duty.

(3.) An award is chargeable to stamp duty under Article 12 in Schedule I to the Stamp Act. That Article defines an award as: