1 nms-432s-1791-83 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION jmi NOTICE OF MOTION NO. 432 OF 2009 IN SUIT NO. 1791 OF 1983. The Board of Trustees of the Port of Bombay. ..Plaintiffs. vs. M/s. Gujarat Export Corporation Ltd. & Anr. ..Defendants. .... Mr. U.J. Makhija, i/b. Mulla & Mulla C.B.C., for Plaintiffs. Ms. N. Sumnani, i/b. Bhatt & Saldanha, for Defendant No.2. .... CORAM : S.J. KATHAWALLA, J. DATE : 4TH FEBRUARY 2011. P.C. By this Notice of Motion, the Defendant No. 2 prays that the present Suit be referred to the Committee of Disputes, Government of India for adjudication of the disputes between the Plaintiffs and the Defendant No.2. The Defendant No.2 has in support of the relief sought by them relied on the decision of the Apex Court in Oil and Natural Gas Commission vs. Collector of Central Excise, reported in 1995 Supp (4) SCC 541. 2. Admittedly, the disputes between the parties are the subject matter of the above Suit which was filed 27 years back i.e. in the year 1983. The Defendants have filed their written statement, issues are framed and the Plaintiffs have also filed their Affidavits of Evidence as well as Documents along with a compilation of documents which the Plaintiffs seek to rely upon. The Defendant No. 2 at this belated stage cannot be heard to say that the Suit be referred to the Committee of Disputes for adjudication. The 2 nms-432s-1791-83 judgment of the Hon’ble Apex Court relied upon by the Defendant No.2 would lend no assistance to the Defendant No.2 since the said judgment is of the year 1995 and paragraph 4 of the said judgment clearly states as follows :- “4. It shall be the obligation of every Court and every Tribunal where such a dispute is raised hereafter to demand a clearance from the Committee in case it has not been so pleaded and in the absence of the clearance, the proceedings would not be proceeded with. (Emphasis supplied)” 3. The Notice of Motion is therefore, dismissed. [ S.J. KATHAWALLA, J. ]