AJAY SINGH (SUNNY) DEOL Vs. SUNEEL DARSHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY these two petitions filed under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (for short "the said Arbitration Act), both the petitioners have challenged part of the impugned award dated 6th June 2011 passed by the learned arbitrator rejecting the claim made by Mr. Suneel Darshan -petitioner in Arbitration Petition No. 908 of 2011 however, awarding arbitration costs of Rs. 12,00,000/ - (Rs. Twelve Lacs only) against Mr. Ajay Singh (Sunny) Deol -the petitioner in Arbitration Petition No. 819 of 2011 who was the original respondent. The respondent in the said petition was the original claimant in the arbitral proceedings. Mr. Suneel Darshan is described as the claimant and Mr. Ajay Singh (Sunny) Deol is described as the respondent in this judgment. Some of the relevant facts for the purpose of deciding these two petitions are as under:

(2.) MR . Ajay Singh (Sunny) Deol -the respondent is an actor by profession. The claimant is a film producer. The dispute arose between the parties relating to production of a film. The said dispute was referred to the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India as the sole arbitrator. On 13th March 2007, the parties arrived at consent terms duly signed by both the parties before the learned arbitrator. The parties also signed the Articles of Agreement dated 14th March 2007 recorded in terms of settlement. On 15th March 2007, the learned arbitrator made an award in terms of the consent terms arrived at between the parties.

(3.) IT is the case of the claimant that the claimant forwarded one script titled as "Kal Kisne Dekha" to the respondent. The respondent however sought narration of the script in order to understand his role in the film. In the month of November 2007, the respondent rejected the said script. It is the case of the claimant that he thereafter started working on another script called "Good Morning India" and forwarded the same to the respondent on 2nd April 2008 and also sought time for narration of the said script to the respondent.