Arbitration Case No.34 of 2010 IN THE PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT AT CHANDIGARH Arbitration Case No.34 of 2010 Date of Decision:- 03.11.2011 M/s Garg Builders …..Petitioner Versus The India Oil Corporation & others …..Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE HEMANT GUPTA Present: Mr. Sanjay Bansal, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Anand Chibbar, Advocate for the respondents. *** Hemant Gupta, J. (Oral) In the present petition, the petitioner has sought adjudication if the dispute arisen out of agreement dated 28.07.2005. Vide the aforesaid agreement the petitioner was given the contract for the work of Civil, Electrical and Air-Conditioning work for the Construction of Community Centre Building at Panipat Refinery Township. As per the petitioner, it has completed the entire work and submitted the final bill. The petitioner was asked to submit no dues certificate alongwith the final bill which was submitted on 15.01.2009. On the basis of such document, a sum of Rs.57,94,500/- was paid to the petitioner vide cheque dated 06.04.2009. It is the assertion of the petitioner that the petitioner has signed no dues certificate and other documents at the time of submission of final bill such as part of the procedure of the respondent to process the payment of final bill. Such, no dues certificate cannot be treated as waiver on the part of the petitioner 1 Arbitration Case No.34 of 2010 in respect of the remaining amount which was not paid though claimed in the final bill. Learned counsel for the respondent has filed detailed reply but it could not be pointed out that the petitioner has given any no claim certificate on or about the time when the payment was made vide cheque dated 06.04.2009. The documents by the respondent in respect to the submission of the final bill show that no claim certificate was part of the documents attached with the final bill. Therefore, it cannot be said that no claim certificate dated 15.01.2009 bars the petitioner from raising claim in respect of the remaining payment. Learned counsel for the respondent relied upon the Supreme Court Order passed in Union of India Vs. Onkar Nath Bhalla & Sons JT 2009 (5) SC 682 to contend that the petitioner has submitted no claim, therefore, petitioner can not be permitted to raise dispute. I do not find that such judgment has applicability to the facts of the present case. In the aforesaid case, the Contractor has accepted the full and final payment and also certified the final bill without any prejudice or reservation. It was after two years, the contractor raised claim. Such claim was said to be not maintainable. But in the present case, the no dues certificate is found to be part of the documents submitted alongwith final bill. Therefore, the payment made in pursuance of such document cannot debar the petitioner to raise dispute. In view of the said fact, I am of the opinion that their exist disputes between the parties and such disputes are required to be decided by an Arbitrator in terms of clause 9.0.2.0 of the agreement. 2 Arbitration Case No.34 of 2010 Consequently, the present petition is allowed. Shri Vinod Jain, District & Sessions Judge (Retd.) r/o H.No.98/8, Model Town, District Gurgaon is appointed as an Arbitrator to resolve the disputes between the parties. The Arbitrator shall be entitled to fee as per Punjab and Haryana High Court (Arbitrator’s Panel and Fee) Rules, 2011. (HEMANT GUPTA) JUDGE 03.11.2011 sonika 3