Arb.P. 22/2008 BEFORE HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE In this petition under section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conc iliation Act, 1996 (hereafter referred to as the Act), the petitioners seek the appointment of an Arbitrator in respect of certain claims made by them. The contract between the parties is dated 23/9/1994 and was for the Desi gn, Supply and Erection of Pre-Fabricated Steel Components for Superstructure of Class 18R of 55 MTR Span at KM 117.00 Bridge over river Marlui on road Demagiri -Marpara Road under 24 BRTB (KM Zero At Demagiri) in the State of Mizoram. According to learned Counsel for the petitioner, during the currency of the contract the petitioner was required to do certain additional works but no p ayment was made for the additional works. According to him, a dispute arose betw een the parties and a request was made by the petitioner to appoint an Arbitrato r. Initially this request was acceded to by the respondents but later on they de clined to appoint an Arbitrator. An affidavit in opposition has been filed by the respondents in which th ey say that initially the petitioner had given a no claim certificate to the eff ect that there was no claim pending against the respondents. Later the petitione r also gave a no demand certificate. Both these documents clearly show that noth ing was due from the respondents to the petitioner. Finally, it is stated in the affidavit in opposition that there was nothing on record to suggest that the pe titioner was asked to do any additional work and if he had done any additional w orks, it was certainly without the sanction of the concerned authorities. I find from a perusal of the pleadings that the no claim certificate ref erred to by the respondents in the affidavit in opposition is an unsigned docume nt. However, for reasons that are not very clear, the petitioner did not place t his information on record when the petition was filed. This information was unfo rtunately concealed from the Court. In so far as the no demand certificate is concerned, I find that the petitioner had mentioned therein that it was submitted without prejudice to the request of the petitioner for the appointment of an Arbitrator. In so far as the question of any document to show that the petitioner wa s asked to perform some additional work, it is fairly conceded by learned Counse l for the petitioner that there is no document issued by the respondents asking the petitioner to do any additional work but the petitioner has been informing t he respondents from time to time about the work done by him. It is submitted that as a dispute has arisen between the parties and as the respondents have not appointed an Arbitrator, I should exercise the power co nferred under Section 11(6) of the Act and appoint an Arbitrator. Learned Counsel for the petitioner has drawn my attention to Jayesh Engi neering Works versus New India Assurance Co. Ltd., (2000) 10 SCC 178. In that de cision, the Supreme Court made a reference to a decision rendered in Union of In dia versus L.K. Ahuja and Co., (1988) 3 SCC 76 wherein it was held that on compl etion of the work, the right to get money would normally arise on settlement of the final bill. If any further payment is then sought to be claimed, the right t o get that amount gets weakened but whether the claim subsists or not is a matte r which is arbitrable. The learned counsel also referred to National Insurance Company Limited versus Boghara Polyfab Private Limited (2009) 1 SCC 267, wherein the Supreme Cou rt noted in paragraph 51 of the Report that the Chief Justice or his designate, exercising jurisdiction under Section 11 of the Act should consider whether ther e was really accord and satisfaction or discharge of a contract by performance. If the answer is in the affirmative, he will refuse to refer the dispute to arbi tration. But if the Chief Justice or his designate comes to the conclusion that the full and final settlement receipt or discharge voucher was the result of any fraud/coercion/undue influence, he would have to hold that there was no dischar ge of the contract and consequently, refer the dispute to arbitration. Keeping in mind, the law laid down by the Supreme Court, I am of the vie w that since the claim raised by the petitioner is not bona fide no arbitral dis pute has arisen. The reason for coming to this conclusion is that there is nothi ng on record to show that the petitioner did not voluntarily give a no claim cer tificate to the respondents. Although the no claim certificate is unsigned, for reasons that are not clear, yet the petitioner did not mention this fact when th e petition for the appointment of an Arbitrator was filed in this Court. Consequ ently, the question of alleging coercion or undue influence does not arise. In a ny case, the petitioner suppressed an important fact, which may have weighed wit h the Court one way or the other at the time of issuing notice in the matter. That apart, the petitioner has not been able to show any document at all to suggest that he was asked by the respondents to carry out some additional wo rk for which payment was to be made as claimed. In the absence of any document t o suggest that the petitioner was required to carry out any additional work, the petitioner, even if he had carried out the work voluntarily, cannot ask the res pondent to foot the bill for it. The fact remains that the claim made by the petitioner is not bona fide, and a new case is made out at the time of filing his rejoinder by claiming that the no claim certificate as well as the no demand certificate given to the resp ondent was under some coercion. Even if this was pleaded in the first instance, the fact is that the petitioner was never asked to carry out additional works, a nd so no dispute arose between the parties. Under the circumstances, it appears to me that the law laid down by the Supreme Court in National Insurance Company Limited is fully applicable and sinc e there was full and final settlement of the contract, no arbitrable dispute aro se. Consequently, the petition is dismissed but with no order as to costs.