GODREJ PROPERTIES LTD Vs. GOLDBRICKS INFRASTRUCTURE PVT. LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal filed under Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act,1996 (for short 'the Act ') assailing an ex-parte order 8 October 2021 passed by the learned Sole Arbitrator on a Section 17 application filed by the respondent. By the impugned order, the learned Sole Arbitrator has granted ex-parte ad-interim reliefs in terms of prayer clauses (a), (b), (c) and (d) of the respondent 's application, which read thus:

(2.) The relevant facts are :- By an order dated 22 January 2021 passed by this Court in Commercial Arbitration Application (lodg) No.6975 of 2020, by consent of the parties, the learned Sole Arbitrator came to be appointed to adjudicate the disputes between the parties. The learned Sole Arbitrator entered arbitral reference. Applications under Section 17 praying for interim measures were filed by both the parties. On 8 September 2021 and thereafter on 12 September 2021, these Section 17 applications were reserved for orders, which are awaited.

(3.) It is the appellant 's case that subsequent to 12 September 2021 there was an exchange of e-mails between the parties in regard to sale of unsold flats in Tower F in Residential Zone II and in regard to the DM Fees, facilities agreement, Villa DMA etc. On this backdrop, on 7 October 2021 at 6 p.m. the appellant received an e-mail, from the Advocates for the respondent, which was a copy of the email addressed by the respondent to the learned Arbitrator, enclosing therewith a second application being filed by the respondent under section 17 of the Act. The respondent recorded in the email that it was compelled to move such application for the reasons as set out in the said application. It was stated that the appellant was trying to arbitrarily sale the balance inventories of Tower 'F ', without sharing the Gross Sales Revenue with the respondents. It was stated that the appellant was high-handedly threatening appropriation of the share of the respondent/claimant, towards the alleged pending D.M.Fees of "Facilities Agreement " and "Villa DMA ", although the issue pertaining to the entitlement of the appellant was pending adjudication before the tribunal. By the said email on behalf of the respondent, the following request was made to the arbitral tribunal:-