SOLITAIRE VENTURES PTE LTD Vs. VIPUL LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner/plaintiffs are assailing the correctness of the judgment passed by learned Additional District Judge, Gurugram dated 12.07.2019 reversing the order passed by the learned Civil Judge (Junior Division), Gurugram, resulting in relegating the parties to get their dispute adjudicated from the Arbitral Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as ' the Tribunal' ). It is very important to note that proceedings between the parties are already pending before the Tribunal. The learned Additional District Judge has allowed an application filed under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 as amended by Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as ' the Act' ).

(2.) The facts as noticed by the learned Additional District Judge, correctness whereof is not disputed by learned counsel for the parties are extracted as under:-

(3.) The plaintiffs along with the plaint filed an application for injunction with a prayer to restrain the defendants from alienating the disputed seven acres of land to anyone referred to in the impugned Exchange Deed. The defendants, on appearance, filed an application under Section 8 of the Act to refer the parties to the pending arbitration before the Tribunal with a plea that in pursuance of Memorandum of Understanding (hereinafter referred to as the ' MoU' ) dated 13.09.2008 executed between the parties, any dispute arising between the parties regarding the project land covered by the MoU is liable to be referred to the Tribunal for adjudication. The application was dismissed by the learned Civil Judge (Junior Division) on the ground that the plaintiffs have pleaded fraud by the defendants which has been reversed by the Additional District Judge.