BIKANERWALA FOODS PVT LTD Vs. MINISTRY OF TEXTILES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') for appointment of an arbitrator in terms of clause 22 of an Agreement for License dated 05.07.2010 entered into between the parties and the relevant clause of which agreement reads as under:-

(2.) Disputes have arisen between the parties with regard to renewal of license and the terms of renewal of such license, and the petitioner therefore issued a legal notice dated 04.06.2014 to the respondent to appoint an arbitrator. The respondent does not dispute that the notice dated 04.06.2014 has been received by it, but it is stated that the respondent has now by its letter dated 30.04.2015 appointed an Arbitrator Sh. A. Madhukumar Reddy, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, New Delhi and therefore this petition has become infructuous.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioner on the contrary argues that once the respondent has failed to appoint an arbitrator within a period of 30 days of receipt of the legal notice dated 04.06.2014, the respondent looses the right to appoint an arbitrator in terms of Sections 11(5) and 11(6) of the Act. Reliance is placed by the petitioner upon a recent judgment of the Supreme Court of a Division Bench of three Judges in the case Deep Trading Company Vs. Indian Oil Corporation & Others, 2013 4 SCC 35.