Arbitration agreement in quarry lease clause bars writ challenge; award must be questioned under the Arbitration Act, 1940.

Clause 15 of the quarry lease, which referred disputes about construction of the lease deed, quarry operations, and rent or royalty to the lessor's final decision, was treated as an arbitration agreement under the Arbitration Act, 1940. The Act was regarded as a complete code with its own remedies for challenging an award under Sections 32 and 33, so writ jurisdiction under Article 226 was not an appropriate substitute. Accordingly, the award and demand notice could not be challenged by writ petition, and the challenge was held not maintainable.

---

---

Issues: Whether Clause 15 of the quarry lease constituted an arbitration agreement, and whether an award made under that clause could be challenged by a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Analysis: Clause 15 required that disputes relating to the construction of the lease deed, the working or non-working of the quarry, and the amount or payment of rent or royalty be decided by the lessor whose decision was final. Read as a whole, the clause contemplated submission of future disputes to the decision of the lessor and therefore satisfied the definition of an arbitration agreement under Section 2(a) of the Arbitration Act, 1940. The proceedings before the authority showed notice and hearing, and the dispute was dealt with after reconsideration of the royalty calculations. The Arbitration Act, 1940 was treated as a self-contained and exhaustive code, providing its own remedies for questioning an award under Sections 32 and 33. In that setting, resort to the extraordinary writ jurisdiction was not an appropriate substitute for the statutory procedure.

Conclusion: Clause 15 was an arbitration agreement, and the writ petition challenging the award and demand notice was not maintainable. The decision was against the appellant.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a contract clause refers disputes to the lessor for a final decision, it constitutes an arbitration agreement, and an award made under such agreement must be challenged only under the Arbitration Act, 1940 and not by a writ petition under Article 226.

---