INDUS TOWERS LIMITED Vs. SISTEMA SHYAM TELESERVICES LTD.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has filed the present petition under Section 11(4) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act') seeking to appoint the nominee Arbitrator on behalf of the respondent as according to the petitioner, the respondent has rejected the reference of the disputes to arbitration who has also failed to appoint its nominee Arbitrator as required under the Dispute Resolution Clause under the Master Services Agreement (in short, called the "MSA") dated 25th February, 2009 signed between the petitioner and the respondent.

(2.) The brief facts of the case as per the petition are that the parties admittedly had entered into the MSA, whereby the respondent availed of the passive infrastructure services provided by the petitioner in various telecom circles throughout India, in consideration for fees to be paid to the petitioner as stipulated under the MSA. The petitioner raised invoices on the respondent -Company for the same, but the said amount remained unpaid by the respondent -Company.

(3.) The MSA stipulates that the respondent is liable to pay to the petitioner 'Exit Amount' as prescribed under Clause 19.2 and Schedule 5 of the MSA, in the event that it terminates the MSA or exits from the telecom sites under the MSA prior to the expiry of its term. The petitioner received a letter dated 21st February, 2013 from the respondent whereby the respondent terminated its services in 10 service areas/telecom circles, out of which the petitioner was providing passive infrastructure services to the respondent at 133 sites in 3 telecom circles, namely Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh.