UNION OF INDIA Vs. S MOHINDER SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a Civil Revision converted from an appeal directed against the order of the Civil Judge, Roorkee at Saharanpur by which he allowed the application by the respondent-applicant moved under Sections 5, 8, 12 and 13 of the Indian Arbitration Act under Section 5 and has appointed one Sri Hukum Singh, retired Chief Engineer of the Punjab P.W.D. as an Arbitrator in his place. The Union of India has come up in appeal.

(2.) A preliminary objection was taken on behalf of the respondent applicant that an appeal does not lie against the order purporting to be under Section 5 of the Arbitration Act. Section 5 of the Arbitration Act reads as under : "The authority of an appointed arbitrator or umpire shall not be revocable except with the leave of the court, unless a contrary intention is expressed in the arbitration agreement."

(3.) THE learned counsel for the Revisionist firstly argued that the respondent-applicant had no right to revoke the authority of the appointed Arbitrator because the Arbitrator had not been appointed by the parties. On the other hand he contended the Arbitrator had been appointed by the Additional Chief Engineer C.P.W.D. as provided in Cl.25 of the Contract. THE contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that the right under S.5 to revoke an authority of an Arbitrator has been given only to the parties and to no one else. Since in the instant case the Arbitrator had been appointed not by the parties themselves but by the Additional Engineer C.P.W.D. as their nominee, the parties as such have no right to revoke the authority of the Arbitrator. THE learned counsel for the respondent, however, has urged before us that parties contemplated in Section 5 means the parties to the arbitration agreement. Our attention has been drawn to Section 4 of the Arbitration Act which reads as under : "THE parties to an arbitration agreement may agree that any reference thereunder shall be to an arbitrator or arbitrators to be appointed by a person designated in the agreement either by name or as the holder for the time being of any office or appointment".