BAFNA UDYOG Vs. MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner seeks appointment of any retired District Judge willing to conduct arbitral proceeding at Nashik under Sec. 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ("Act") and further direction to the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council to hand over all the records and proceedings in their custody to the arbitrator so appointed.

(2.) The Petitioner is registered as a small entity under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 ("The MSMED Act"). The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises certifying the date of incorporation of the Petitioner as 21/3/2003 has issued the Udyam Registration Certificate. The Petitioner is a supplier and the Respondent No.2 is a buyer, who according to the Petitioner is liable to pay Rs.92,41,072.00 to the Petitioner till 28/2/2023 with future interest as per the MSMED Act till realization of the amount. The Respondent No.1 is the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council ("MSEFC").

(3.) The Petitioner, a registered MSME, filed the statement of claim alongwith a declaration of termination of conciliation under Sec. 76(d) of the Act. It is the case of the Petitioner that despite various attempts to resolve issues of discord between the parties, the dispute remained unresolved. According to the Petitioner, the Respondent No.2 had infact acknowledged the debt but failed to pay the amount. Thus, the Petitioner claims that conciliation between the parties failed and in these circumstances, has filed a certificate of termination under Sec. 76(d) of the Act with the Respondent No.1 along with its statement of claim. The Respondent-Council thereafter failed to act in accordance with Sec. 18(3) of the MSMED Act and failed to refer the dispute to arbitration. It is this inaction of the Respondent-Council, which led the Petitioner to file the present Arbitration Petition seeking appointment of an arbitrator under Sec. 11(6) of the Act.