TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2012 (12) TMI 827
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....The Petitioner Committee entered into a Collaboration Agreement dated 16th November, 1990, by which the Respondent agreed to convert the Moti Cinema compound into a commercial complex. Subsequently, the agreement was amended on 2nd May, 1991, by which certain changes were introduced with regard to the scheme of payment. Inasmuch as disputes arose between the parties over the working of the agreement, the Respondent filed an application under Section 11 of the 1996 Act for appointment of an Arbitrator and by an order dated 14th May, 2001, the Delhi High Court appointed Justice K. Ramamoorthy, a retired Judge of the said Court, as the Sole Arbitrator. After considering the materials brought on record, the learned Arbitrator passed his Award upon holding that the Respondent had committed breach of the terms of the Collaboration Agreement and directed the Petitioner to refund the sum of Rs.41 lakhs which had been received from the Respondent, within three months from the date of the Award and in default of payment within the said period, the amount would carry interest @ 12% per annum from the date of the Award till the date of payment. 3. As will appear from the records, copies of th....
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....he Privy Council in the celebrated case of Nazir Ahmed Vs. King Emperor [(AIR 1936 PC 253], wherein it was categorically laid down that if an action is required to be taken in a particular manner, it had to be taken in that manner only or not at all. While observing that all the aforesaid controversies could have been avoided if the Award had been served on the party directly, the Division Bench also observed that in view of Section 2(h) of the 1996 Act, there was no justifiable reason to depart from the precise definition of the expression "party" which means a party to the arbitration agreement. 7. Appearing in support of the Special Leave Petition, Mr. Ranjit Kumar, learned Senior Advocate, reiterated the submissions which had been made before the High Court. Learned senior counsel reiterated that after the Award had been passed on 12th May, 2004, a copy of the same, duly signed by the Arbitrator, was received by counsel for the Respondent on 13th May, 2004, while the Petition under Section 34 was filed only on 3rd February, 2005, well beyond the period of 3 months prescribed in Section 34(3) of the 1996 Act and also beyond the further period of 3 months as indicated in the pro....
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....he legal position and it would be wrong to tailor the law according to the facts of a particular case. 10. As an additional ground, Mr. Ranjit Kumar referred to the use of the words "signed by parties" under Order 23 Rule 3 read with Order 3 Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which provide that any appearance, application or act in or to any Court, required or authorized by law to be made or done by a party in such Court, may, except where otherwise expressly provided by any law for the time being in force, be made or done by the party in person, or by his recognized agent, or by a pleader appearing, applying or acting, as the case may be, on his behalf. Mr. Ranjit Kumar contended that on the strength of the Vakalatnama executed by the party in favour of his Advocate/agent, service of notice effected on the Advocate holding such Vakalatnama amounted to service of the notice on the party himself, as was held in the case of Pushpa Devi Bhagat Vs. Rajinder Singh & Ors. [(2006) 5 SCC 566]. 11. A similar view had been expressed by this Court in Byram Pestonji Gariwala Vs. Union Bank of India & Ors.[(1992) 1 SCC 31], whereby this Court held that the expression "signed by parties" w....
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....application to the facts of this case. Mr. Viswanathan submitted that no interference was called for with the decision of the Division Bench of the High Court impugned in the Special Leave Petition, which was liable to be dismissed. 15. Having taken note of the submissions advanced on behalf of the respective parties and having particular regard to the expression "party" as defined in Section 2(h) of the 1996 Act read with the provisions of Sections 31(5) and 34(3) of the 1996 Act, we are not inclined to interfere with the decision of the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court impugned in these proceedings. The expression "party" has been amply dealt with in Tecco Trechy Engineers's case (supra) and also in ARK Builders Pvt. Ltd.'s case (supra), referred to hereinabove. It is one thing for an Advocate to act and plead on behalf of a party in a proceeding and it is another for an Advocate to act as the party himself. The expression "party", as defined in Section 2(h) of the 1996 Act, clearly indicates a person who is a party to an arbitration agreement. The said definition is not qualified in any way so as to include the agent of the party to such agreement. Any reference, therefor....