PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT CHANDIGARH. *** Arbitration Case No. 64 of 2009. Date of decision: April 20, 2010. *** Dynamic Continental Pvt. Ltd Versus M/S Liberty Retail Revolutions Ltd. And Others. *** Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Mukul Mudgal, Chief Justice. *** 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. Whether to be referred to the Reporters or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? *** Present: Shri C.L.Sharma, Advocate, for the petitioner. Shri G.S.Sandhu, Advocate, for the respondents. *** Mukul Mudgal, CJ (Oral) 1. By filing the instant petition under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, the petitioner has craved the indulgence of this Court for appointment of an Arbitrator to adjudicate the dispute between the parties arising out of contract agreement Annexure P-1. 2. Upon notice of motion, the respondents put in appearance and filed a reply controverting the grounds taken by the petitioners. 3. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and with their assistance perused the record. 4. Agreement Annexure P-1 contains arbitration clause which is reproduced as under:- '' (a) if any dispute arises between the parties hereto during the subsistence of this agreement or thereafter, in connection with the validity, interpretation, implementation or alleged material breach of any provision of this Agreement or regarding a question including the question as to whether the termination of this agreement by one party hereto has been legitimate, the parties hereto shall endeavour to settle such dispute amicably. The attempt to bring about an amicable settlement is considered to have failed as soon as one of the parties hereto, after reasonable attempts which attempt shall continue for not less than 30 (thirty) days, gives notice thereof to the other parties in writing. -2- (b) All disputes, controversies and differences of opinion arising out of or in connection with this agreement or for the breach thereof which cannot be settled amicably by the parties hereto, shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 by the sole arbitrator to be appointed by mutual consent, failing which by the Hon'ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The parties shall appoint/take steps to appoint the sole arbitrator within 15 (fifteen) days of receiving a notice from the other party in accordance with Clause 7(a) above. The venue of arbitration shall be New Delhi. The parties shall continue to fulfill their obligations under this Agreement pending the final resolution of the dispute and the Parties shall not have the right to suspend their obligations under this Agreement by virtue of any dispute being referred to arbitration''. 5. In Annexure P-2 notice regarding appointment of Arbitrator, the petitioner of his own had suggested three names out of which one had to be appointed as arbitrator. In reply, the respondents did not agree with the names suggested by the petitioner and instead supplied their own three names, to which petitioner did not agree. Hence this petition. 6. A perusal of both the lists shows that none of the names given therein was common for being appointed as arbitrator. Faced with this situation, both the learned counsel for the parties fairly agreed that this Court may appoint the arbitrator. 7. A perusal of the arbitration clause shows that the venue of the parties that the arbitration shall be at New Delhi. Accordingly, Mr. Justice J.P.Singh, a former Judge of the Delhi High Court, Delhi is appointed as a sole arbitrator to settle the dispute between the parties. He shall fix his own fee. 8. In the meanwhile the parties will exchange the statements of claim and response thereto. The statement of claim be supplied to counsel for the respondents within four weeks and response to the statement of claim shall be supplied to the counsel for the petitioner within four weeks thereafter. The parties shall appear before the Arbitrator on July 16, 2010 -3- or on an agreed date convenient to the parties but not later than a fortnight from July 16, 2010 after exchange of pleadings as directed aforesaid. The Arbitrator shall dispose of the reference not later than six months from the first date of appearance of the parties. 8. With these directions, the petition stands disposed of (Mukul Mudgal) April 20, 2010 Chief Justice Malik