RELIANCE INFOCOM LTD Vs. BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Respondent has filed this application praying that the issue of jurisdiction raised by it against the maintainability of appellant's application under Section 9 of the Arbitration Act, 1996 and the arbitration be decided as a preliminary issue in this Appeal.

(2.) This appeal is directed against order dated 4.11.2004 dismissing appellant's OMP No.398/2004 filed under Section 9 of the New Arbitration Act 1996 and the jurisdictional plea raised by the respondent is that this court had no jurisdiction to entertain an application under Section 9 of the Arbitration Act, 1996 nor could the dispute raised by Appellant be referred to any arbitration in the face of Sections 14 & 15 of the TRAI Act and subsequent to the creation of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) under this Act as this Tribunal alone had the jurisdiction to decide and adjudicate such disputes in connection with which appellant had filed the OMP under Section 9 of the Arbitration Act for an interim protection.

(3.) Learned senior counsel for respondent/applicant Mr.Sunderam urged that this issue was required to be decided on the very threshold to obviate the necessity of examining the merit of the issues surrounding the appellant's OMP in the event it was held that this court had no jurisdiction to entertain the OMP and that the jurisdiction vested with the TDSAT only. He supported it by a Supreme Court order passed in Arun Aggarwal Vs. Nagreeka Exports (P) Ltd. (2002) 10 Supreme Court Cases 101 and an order passed by the Court disposing of respondent's SLP No.7816-7847/2004. According to him, both these orders required this court to decide the jurisdictional question as a preliminary objection.