SUSHILA M.MARU Vs. CHITTARANJAN M.MARU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS Civil Revision application is directed against the order dated 7.3.2003 passed by Sub -Judge I, Ranchi in Misc. Case No. 6/2000 whereby the Court below has rejected the application filed by the petitioners for summoning the Arbitrators as witnesses.

(2.) IT appears that by an agreement dated 24.11.1989 the petitioners and the opposite party referred their dispute relating to partition of joint family properties to the Arbitrators, Namely, Sri Jagdish H. Chouhan and Sri Radheshyam Marathia. The said Arbitrators, without entering into the reference passed an interim award dated 25.12.1989. Thereafter they published their final award and the same was filed in the Court and was registered as Title Suit No. 130/99. The petitioners challenged the award by filing objection which was registered as Misc Case No. 6/2000. In the said case the petitioners filed an application for summoning the Arbitrators as witnesses. The grounds taken by the petitioners in their objection are that the Arbitrators gave their award even without entering into reference and without issuing notices to the parties and without hearing them. The said application has been rejected by the Court below by the impugned order holding that there does not appear any misconduct on the part of the Arbitrators and therefore summoning the Arbitrators will served no purpose.

(3.) A copy of the agreement by which the parties agreed to refer the dispute to the Arbitrators, has been annexed as Annexure A to the counter affidavit. Para 2 of the agreement empowers the Arbitrators to proceed ex parte in case of any of the parties failing to attend the Arbitration proceeding even after reasonable notices given to them. Admittedly the Arbitrators, without entering into the reference, gave interim award. The objection raised by the petitioners for setting aside the award is that the Arbitrators never entered into the reference before giving their final award nor any opportunity of hearing was given to the parties. It was also alleged that one of the Arbitrators, namely, Jagdish H. Chouhan never came to Ranchi after 1994 till the date of publication of the award and, therefore, question of entering into reference does not arise.