INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PVT LTD Vs. MOHAN MEAKINS LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Respondent/applicant seeks dismissal at the threshold of the petition under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, notice whereof was ordered to be issued to the Respondent on 23rd July, 2008.

(2.) THE Respondent/applicant in its application for such rejection of the petition under Section 34 of the Act has stated that the Agreement leading to the Arbitration contained a jurisdiction clause that all the disputes or differences between the parties thereto shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of competent jurisdiction in Ghaziabad; that the Arbitration proceedings were held at Ghaziabad and the ex parte Award in favour of the respondent/applicant and against the Petitioner was announced at Ghaziabad; that no cause of action had arisen within the territorial jurisdiction of this court and in any case in view of the jurisdiction clause in the Agreement, the parties had agreed to the jurisdiction of the courts at Ghaziabad.

(3.) THE petition under Section 34 of the Arbitration Act had come up for admission first on 4th July, 2008. Notice of the said petition was on that date not issued and the Petitioner was asked to satisfy as to how this court had the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the petition under Section 34 of the arbitration Act. The Respondent/applicant was also represented on that date and had argued that it had applied for execution of the Award in this court after first filing the Execution petition in the courts at Ghaziabad, which alone had jurisdiction and after having the Execution transferred to this court. However, on the next date, 23rd July, 2008 when the file of the Execution was called, it transpired that the proceeding which had been filed by the Respondent/applicant in this court was not Execution of a transferred decree but an application under section 9 of the Act. Notice of the application under Section 34 of the Act was accordingly issued to the Respondent/applicant, the Petitioner having got over the impediment of territorial jurisdiction owing to Section 42 of the Act.