RAJIV RANJAN (CAPT ) Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a first appeal against an order of the d Chief Justice sitting in Chambers and arises v an application purporting to be under S. 20 with S. 81a of the Arbitration Act, made by Mr. C Rai applicant against the Union of India, prayer that an arbitration agreement which subsists between the parties be filed and appointment of an arbitrator be ordered to adjudicate

(2.) UPON certain matters of dispute between the parties. This application was resisted by the Union of India on various grounds, one of such grounds being that the notice given by the applicant was not a valid notice and as such the present application was not competent. The application came up before the learned C. J. sitting in Chambers who dismissed the application on the ground that "the notice which had been served on the non -applicant Union of India was not in conformity with S. 42 of the Arbitration Act, inasmuch as the provisions of Cl. 17 of the lease agreement have not been complied with."

(3.) ON behalf of the applicant, his learned counsel, Mr. Bali, attacked the order of the learned C. J. on the following grounds: firstly, that under the circumstances of the present case no notice was necessary to be given to the Union of India and any defect in the notice was therefore1 immaterial, and secondly, that cl. 17 of the lease agreement does not make the giving of a notice to the non -applicant Union of India a condition precedent for making an application to the Court. He has further submitted that cl. 17 does not lay down that no notice can be given directly to the Government of India and that it should have been given only through the Lands, Hirings and Disposal Service, 24, Parganas, Howrah and Hoogly.