BIBA SETHI Vs. DYNA SECURITIES LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BOTH these petitions under Section 34 of the Arbitration and conciliation Act, 1996 raise identical issues of facts and law and are taken up together for consideration.

(2.) THE challenge is to the arbitral awards both dated 6th November, 2006 of an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the National Stock Exchange of India Byelaws, to the effect that the reference to the Arbitral Tribunal of the claims of each of the petitioners was beyond the period of six months prescribed in Byelaw 3 of Chapter XI. The Arbitral Tribunal thus rejected the reference without expressing any opinion on the merits of the matter and about the right of the petitioners to re-agitate the matter by filing civil suit and enforcing their rights, if any.

(3.) THE factual controversy is relevant. Each of the petitioners had instituted suits in this court for recovery of monies from the respondent. The applications under Section 8 of the Act came to be filed in the said suits and which were disposed of vide common order dated 25th November, 2005. It was the contention of the respondent who was the defendant in the said suits that under the byelaws, there is arbitration clause and all matters and settlement have to be settled by the forum prescribed therein. The counsel for the petitioners who were the plaintiffs therein gave his no objection to abide by the terms of the arbitration clause as contained in the byelaws, subject to the court fees paid by the petitioners in the suits being refunded in accordance with the provisions of Section 89 of the CPC read with Section 16 of the Court Fees Act. The suits were disposed of with the directions that the petitioners would be entitled to approach the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) under the provisions of the byelaws and as and when such request was received the NSE shall appoint an arbitrator as the petitioners had already filed the suits in the form of claims. Directions were also issued to the NSE to appoint an arbitrator within a month from that date and to the petitioners to approach the NSE by filing statements of claim and copy of the order to enable the NSE to expeditiously comply with the directions.