P C ANAND Vs. REGIONAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE SOCIETY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The above Arbitration Petitions and C.M.Ps. are being disposed of by a common judgment as these involve common questions of fact and law and are between the same parties. These petitions have been filed by the petitioner-claimant under Sub-section (6) of Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter called 'the Act') with the prayer that an Arbitrator may be appointed to adjudicate upon the disputes between the parties as detailed therein.

(2.) It is not in dispute that the parties had entered into three separate agreements whereby the following construction works were allotted to the petitioner-claimant:

(3.) In reply to these petitioners the respondents have taken three preliminary objections. One of these preliminary objections is that the present application is not maintainable being time barred in view of the specific stipulation in the arbitration agreement that if the contractor does not make and demand for arbitration in respect of any claim in writing within 90 days of receiving the intimation from the Society that the bill is ready for payment, the claim of the contractor will be deemed to have been waived and absolutely barred and the society shall be discharged and released of all liability under the contract in respect of these claims. In para 1 of the reply on merits specific dates have also been given when the intimation that the final bills were ready for payments in each contract, which are subject matter of these petitions, was given to the petitioner -claimant to show that his claim, is miserably time barred,