SELECTED MARBLE HOME Vs. ARUN KUMAR GUPTA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is filed under Section 10 of the Delhi High Court Act read with Order 43, Rule 1 Civil Procedure Code against the order of the learned Single Judge dated 27.9.1993. The appeal is preferred by the plaintiffs.

(2.) The appellants filed the suit under Section 20 of the Indian Arbitration Act seeking the filing of the arbitration agreement and a reference to arbitration as Suit No. 3708/91. In the suit, the appellants relied upon the agreement dated 27.8.1990 (Annexures G & H in this F.A.O) contending that certain disputes have arisen between the parties which required to be referred to arbitration. The appellants are contending that the two agreements are licence agreements while the respondents are contending that though the agreements dated 27.8.1990 are true and purport to be agreements of licence, their real nature is that they must be treated as lease agreements. A further objection has been raised that the agreements , though they bear stamp duty of Rs. 5.00 each sufficient to treat them as agreements of licence, they must be treated as lease agreements and are insufficiently stamped, if so treated.

(3.) Under the impugned order dated 27.9.1993, the learned Single Judge- did not decide whether the agreements are agreements of licences as they, on their face, purport to be or, whether they really amounted to lease deeds or agreements to lease. He did not even say that if treated as agreements of licence, the stamp duty of Rs. 5.00 on which each of them was engrossed, was not sufficient. Nor did he decide that their real nature was different and that they must be treated as leases or agreements of lease. Instead he passed an order on 27.9.1993 - "be sent for adjudication to the Collector of Stamps". It is against this order that the plaintiffs have come up in appeal.