RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LIMITED Vs. GAIL(INDIA) LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These petitions have been filed under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act") challenging the Arbitral Award dated 25.02.2012 passed by the Sole Arbitrator (hereinafter referred to as "Impugned Award"), as corrected by the order dated 24.03.2012. Hereinafter, "Reliance Industries Limited" shall be referred to as the petitioner and "GAIL (India) Limited" shall be referred to as the respondent.

(2.) The Impugned Award partially allowed the claim of the respondent towards additional amounts claimed vide Debit Notes raised by the respondent in 2008 for the amount of gas supplied, representing the difference between amount remitted by the petitioner for the period between 01.08.2005 to 31.08.2008 and amount found payable by virtue of Article 11.02, along with interest @ 9% p.a. from the date of the Award, on the aforesaid amount to be determined by the respondent.

(3.) The disputes between the parties arose in relation to the Gas Supply Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the "Agreement") dated 30.03.2000 for supply of Natural Gas by the respondent to the petitioner for extraction of C2 (Ethane) and C3 (Propane) fractions after removal of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) in the petitioner's Petrochemical Plant located at Dahej, Gujarat. The Agreement was initially executed between the respondent and "Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited" ("IPCL"), however, on IPCL being taken over by the petitioner in 2002, the petitioner assumed all the rights and obligations of IPCL under the Agreement. The original period of the Agreement was uptil 01.01.2005, however, the same was extended on a number of occasions, the last extension being uptil 31.08.2008.