SARAVANA GLOBAL HOLDINGS LTD Vs. N. JAYAMURUGAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The issues that arise for consideration in this Petition filed under Sec. 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, challenging the Arbitral Award, dtd. 20/2/2019 are as follows:

(2.) Brief facts leading to the filing of this Petition under Sec. 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996: The Respondent in this Petition is the Claimant and the Petitioner is the Respondent in the Arbitration, who has also made a Counter-claim against the Respondent. The Respondent had invested money with the Petitioner for the purchase of 200 acres of land at Moosivakkam Village, Kancheepuram under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), dtd. 18/5/2006.

(3.) As per the MoU, dtd. 18/5/2006, the Petitioner agreed to identify and acquire 200 acres of land for and on behalf of the Respondent. The terms and conditions entered into between the parties are found in the MoU, dtd. 18/5/2006. One of the conditions is that the time fixed for completing the process of acquisition was 90 days from the date of MoU. There arose a dispute between the Petitioner and the Respondent under the MoU, dtd. 18/5/2006. Admittedly, there is an Arbitration Clause in the MoU, dtd. 18/5/2006. However, as per the general Law of Limitation under the Limitation Act, 1963, the debt if at all payable to the Respondent by the Petitioner has become a time-barred debt. The Respondent claims a sum of Rs.5,33,76,000,.00 which is the alleged balance unutilized amount retained by the Petitioner out of the total payment made by the Respondent, which the Petitioner has refused to return to the Respondent, despite the Petitioner not having invested the said amount for and on behalf of the Respondent for the purchase of the properties as stipulated under the MoU, dtd. 18/5/2006.