KASHI PRASAD SINGH Vs. GUPTESHWAR SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS Civil Revision is connected with First Appeal from Order No. 328 of 1952.

(2.) IT appears that the applicant, Thakural Kashi Prasad Singh and two of the opposite parties, viz., Thakurai Gupteshwar Singh and Thakurai Jagdish Prasadi Singh, executed an arbitration agreement on 29-4-1950. They appointed two persons, viz., Sri Raj Kishore Singh and Sri Mutun Behari Singh, as arbitrators and a third person, Sri Jai Shankar Lal Vakil, as Sarpanch. As no suit was pending, the arbitration was intended to take place without the intervention of the court. IT so happened that Sri Raj Kishore Singh and Sri Mutun Behari Singh refused to act as arbitrators. Thereupon Thakurai Gupteshwar Singh served notices on the other two executants of the arbitration agreement calling upon them to nominate fresh arbitrators. No step was taken by the remaining two executants on receipt of these notices, whereupon Thakurai Gupteshwar Singh made an application to court under Section 8 (2), Indian Arbitration Act (X of 1940) for the appointment of arbitrators in place of the two arbitrators mentioned in the arbitration agreement who had refused to act. This application was registered as Miscellaneous Case No. 65 of 1950. IT was opposed by the present applicant, Thakurai Kashi Prasad Singh, Ultimately the learned Civil Judge appointed two Vakils, viz., Sri Vishwanath Prasad and Sri Ram Chandra Das, as arbitrators. He added that 'their fees will be paid by the parties which will be determined afterwards". Dissatisfied with this decision Thakurai Kashi Prasad Singh has come up in revision.

(3.) THE main point for decision in these cases is that involved in the revision, i. e., whether the court below had jurisdiction to appoint arbitrators in place of those who had refused to act as such. If the revision fails, the First Appeal From Order will fail automatically.