Section 9 arbitration relief permits interim payment of admitted rent where lease terms and prima facie liability support protection.

In Section 9 proceedings under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, the HC held that it may direct payment of admitted or prima facie established rent as an interim measure of protection, guided by the principles underlying Order XV-A and Order XXXIX Rule 10 CPC. A claimed oral variation of a written lease was rejected at the interim stage under Section 92 of the Indian Evidence Act, and the alleged free-rent period was treated as a drafting issue that could not override the lease terms. Finding a strong prima facie case, balance of convenience, and irreparable injury in favour of the lessor, the Court sustained the directions for deposit of outstanding rent and left final adjudication to arbitration.

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Issues: Whether, in proceedings under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, the Court could direct payment of admitted rent as an interim measure of protection, and whether the impugned directions requiring deposit of outstanding rent were justified on the terms of the lease deed.

Analysis: Section 9 confers wide power on the Court to grant interim measures of protection, and the Court may be guided by the principles underlying Order XV-A and Order XXXIX Rule 10 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. Where liability for rent is prima facie established by a registered lease deed and surrounding materials, the Court can direct payment of the admitted or clearly recoverable amount pending arbitration. The plea of an alleged oral variation to a written lease was held to be unsustainable at the interim stage in view of Section 92 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. On a prima facie construction of the lease deed, the supposed free-rent period was found to be the result of bad drafting and could not override the rest of the contractual terms. The Court also found a strong prima facie case, balance of convenience, and irreparable injury in favour of the lessor, and held that the arbitral proceedings had already commenced upon invocation of the arbitration clause.

Conclusion: The Court held that a direction to pay the outstanding rent could validly be made under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and the challenge to the interim payment orders failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeals were dismissed and the interim directions for payment of rent were sustained, while leaving the arbitral tribunal free to decide the dispute finally on its own merits.

Ratio Decidendi: In proceedings under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, the Court may order payment of admitted or prima facie established monetary dues as an interim measure of protection, guided by the principles underlying civil procedural provisions governing interim payment and deposit.

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