(1.) This is an application under Sec. 34 of the Indian Arbitration Act, inter alia, for stay of the suit being Suit No. 4028 of 1969 (Basdeo Prasad Agarwalla v/s. Santi Swarup Gupta and Ors. ) and all proceedings thereunder including the operation of the order dated November 28, 1969, in the said suit.
(2.) The Petitioners Nos. 2 to 6 at all material times carried on and still now carry on business under the name and style of Sundar Lal & Sons as dealers and brokers in jute goods. The Petitioners in their said business of Sundar Lal & Sons are members of East India Jute and Hessian Exchange Association. By and under a contract dated May 8,1969, and bearing No. JG/B 37710, the Respondent No. 1 Basdeo Prasad Agarwalla agreed to sell and deliver to the Petitioner No. 1 and the Petitioner No. 1 agreed to purchase from the Respondent No. 1 3,25,000 yards of jute cotton bagging, 48 inches wide, at the rate of Rs. 1,500 per long ton free alongside export vessel in the port of Calcutta.
(3.) The said contract was arrived at by exchange of Bought Note and Sold Note by or on behalf of the Petitioner No. 1 and the Respondent No. 1. The said contract was a transferable specific delivery contract for jute goods and was made in the form prescribed by the East India Jute and Hessian Exchange Limited, Calcutta. The said contract, inter alia, provided that: