TARAPORE AND CO. Vs. STATE OF M.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant impugns the judgment of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh by which it has upheld the order of the District Judge, Jabalpur, setting aside the award of the arbitrators in exercise of power conferred by section 30 (a) or the Arbitration Act, 1940, hereinafter the Act.

(2.) THE award to be set aside was one which had come to be passed following the order of the District Judge dated May 6,1987 in Civil Suit No. 1 -A/87 by which an an earlier award had come to be remitted to the arbitrator for reconsideration keeping in view the legal arguments advanced. The first award owes its origin to the following question referred for determination by the two arbitrators named in the order of the District Judge passed on April 12, 1985:

(3.) IN these circumstances the aforesaid question was referred for determination by the two named arbitrators. After the reference was entered into by the arbitrators the appellant claimed a sum of Rs. 3,42,69,847 on the aforesaid count. The Stale admitted that the contract was liable to pay the increased wages under the Minimum Wages Ad, but took a stand in paragraph 12 of its counter that the claimant was not entitled to the increased amount on account of revision of wage and and denied its liability to reimburse. The arbitrators, however, by order dated November 20, 1986 awarded a sum of Rs. 236 lakhs with simple interest @ 12 per cent to the claimant -appellant. It may be stated that by the time the award was passed one Shri K.C. Goel had stepped into the shoes of Brigadier D.R. Kathuria.