High CourtDivision BenchAppeal disposed of.

Puri Constructions Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors.

Case / Petition Number:Civil Appeal No. 4261 of 2018
Neutral Citation:[2018] 4 S.C.R. 257

Case Details & Bench

Court
High Court
Hon'ble Judges
  • Adarsh Kumar Goel
  • R. F. Nariman
Judgment Date
2018-04-18
Court Decision / Holding
In terms of the Larger Bench decision, the award shall be treated as having been rendered under the Madhya Pradesh Madhyastham Adhikaran Adhiniyam, 1983. The pending Delhi High Court proceedings (FAO(OS) No. 23/1998) and connected matters shall be transferred to the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur to be treated as a revision petition under the MP Act, and the remaining arbitration proceedings shall be transferred to the MP Arbitration Tribunal under the MP Act. The parties may take steps for transfer of records, and the appeal is disposed of with a direction for proceedings before the appropriate fora on 9 July 2018.
Final Disposition
Appeal disposed of.

Parties to the Case

Appellants / Petitioners

  • Puri Constructions Pvt. Ltd.

Respondents

  • State of Madhya Pradesh
  • Ors.

Legal Representation & Advocates

Counsels for Petitioners

  • • A. Kiran Suri

Counsels for Respondents

  • • Saurabh Mishra
  • • Jugal Kishore Gilda
  • • Purushaindra Kumar
  • • Naman Nagrath
  • • Neeraj Kishan Kaul
  • • Parag Triathi

Case Synopsis & Summary

This Supreme Court matter concerns execution of a long-standing arbitral award arising from a 1984 contract for constructing an Assembly building in Madhya Pradesh. An arbitrator, appointed by the Delhi High Court, rendered the award on 21 June 1989, which was made a Rule of the Court on 28 September 1989. Execution was pursued by the appellant, and a Learned Single Judge allowed it on 6 September 1991; the Division Bench in 2012 noted that the enforceability of the decree depended on the fate of FAO(OS) No. 23/1998, which was deferred pending a larger Bench decision. The larger Bench (8 March 2018) held that the dispute must be settled under the Madhyastham Adhikaran Adhiniyam, 1983 (M.P. Act). Since the award was long-past and not challenged, the Court directed that it be treated as having been rendered under the MP Act. Pending Delhi proceedings are to be transferred to the Madhya Pradesh High Court (revision under the MP Act) and the remaining arbitration matters to the MP Arbitration Tribunal, to be dealt with as per the MP Act. The appeal is disposed of with directions for record transfer and for steps before the relevant courts on 9 July 2018. Delay condoned; Leave granted.

Provisions of Law Cited

Madhya Pradesh Madhyastham Adhikaran Adhiniyam, 1983 (M.P. Act)

Submissions & Arguments

Contentions of Appellants / Petitioners

The appellant contends that the arbitral award of 1989, though executed in Delhi, must be treated as if rendered under the Madhya Pradesh Madhyastham Adhikaran Adhiniyam, 1983 in view of the Larger Bench decision in 2018. Since the award has remained unchallenged for decades, it should be deemed to have been passed under the MP Act, enabling disposal of pending proceedings under MP Act provisions. The Delhi High Court’s execution order should thus be superseded, with the proceedings transferred to Madhya Pradesh for revision under the MP Act; the related arbitration proceedings should also be transferred to the MP Arbitration Tribunal for disposition in accordance with the MP Act. The appellant seeks final relief consistent with the MP Act framework and for expeditious resolution of the matter in the MP fora.

Contentions of Respondents

The respondents argue that the Delhi High Court proceedings and the execution should continue in the normal course, as the award and decree were long-standing and undisputed for many years. They contend that the obligation to execute the decree should not be displaced by an MP Act regime unless strictly required by law. They rely on the prior procedural posture and the pending FAO(OS) 23/1998, contending that any shift to MP fora should be carefully justified and procedurally warranted in light of the ongoing litigation in Delhi courts. They resist wholesale transfer of records and insist on maintaining the current forum unless a clear legal mandate compels departure.

Cited Precedents (1)

Case NameCitationTreatmentExplanation
Madhya Pradesh Rural Road Development Authority and Anr. v. L.G. Chaudhary Engineers and Contractors(2012) 3 SCC 495PositiveThe larger Bench decision (8 March 2018) relies on Chaudhary to apply the MP Act route for settlement of the dispute.

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Extracted Judgment Text

Exact text extracted from official judgment records.

257 [2018] 4 S.C.R. 257 PURI CONSTRUCTIONS PVT. LTD. A v. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH & ORS. (Civil Appeal No. 4261 of 2018) APRIL 18, 2018 B ## **[ADARSH KUMAR GOEL AND R. F. NARIMAN, JJ.]** _Madhya Pradesh Madhyastham Adhikaran Adhiniyam, 1983:_ _Jurisdiction of Arbitration Tribunal – Award passed by Arbitrator appointed by Delhi High Court – Execution of award_ C _allowed – Appeal against the execution order pending before Delhi High Court as the same had been deferred by High Court pending decision of Supreme Court by Larger Bench in *_ L.G. Chaudhary _case – Held: In terms of decision by Larger Bench of Supreme Court, the decision of the dispute between the parties has to be settled in_ D _accordance with the 1983 Act – In view of the fact that award was passed long back and matter is pending for execution, it is directed that award would be treated to have been passed under 1983 Act – The pending proceedings before Delhi High Court transferred to Madhya Pradesh High Court to be treated as Revision Petition under 1983 Act – The other pending proceedings shall be transferred to_ E _Arbitration tribunal constituted under 1983 Act – Appeals disposed of._ _Madhya Pradesh Rural Road Development Authority and Anr. v. L.G. Chaudhary Engineers and Contractors_ **(2012) 2 SCC 495 : [2012] 2 SCR 162** _**–**_ **referred to.** F ## **Case Law Reference** **[2012] 2 SCR 162 referred to Para 4** CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 4261 of 2018. G From the Judgment and Order dated 19.07.2012 of the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi in FAO (OS) No. 23 of 1998. Saurabh Mishra, AAG., Jugal Kishore Gilda, Purushaindra Kumar, Advs. Gen., Naman Nagrath, Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Parag Triathi, Ms. H 257 258 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2018] 4 S.C.R. - A Kiran Suri, Sr. Advs., Harsh Parashar, Jubin Prasad, Aman Pandey, Jasdeep S. Dhillon, Prabhat K. Chaurasia, Ms. Renuka Sahu, Jay Savla, Amar Varun, Shantanu Krishna, Ms. Anusuya Salwan, Dhurav Mishra, Divyanshu Kumar Srivastav, Akash Lamba, Viren Sibal, Vivekananda B., Vikas Sood, Apporv Kurup, Ms. Isha Mital, Dr. Harsh Pathak, Ms. Shweta Mahajan, Mohit Chaubey, Siddharth Shukla, Neeraj Shekhar, - B Arjun Garg, Mishra Saurabh, Sridhar Potaraju, Sudhir Mishra, Prabhat Kumar, Ms. Petal Chandok, Ms. Ankita Sharma, Rishabh, M. R. Shamshad, Aditya Samaddar, B. S. Banthia, Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Saurabh S. Sinha, Aditya Dev Triguna, Sunil Singh Parihar, M/S. AP & J Chambers, Prafulla Kumar Behera, Manish K. Bhardwaj, - C S. S. Nehra, Ms. Anuradha Mishra, Ms. Vanshaja Shukla, Varun Mohan, Swastik Singh, Arjun Garg, Manish Yadav, Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, B.N. Dubey, Ms. Devika Gulati, Hitendra Nath Rath, Mayank Kshirsagar, Pavesh Joshi, Chavu Ambwani (For M/S. AP & J Chambers), B. K. Satija, Sumit Attri, K. Krishna Kumar, Hitendra Nath Rath, Nilava Bandyopadhayay, Rahul Pandey, Advs. for the appearing - D parties. The following Order of the Court was passed: ## **O R D E R** 1. Delay condoned. Leave granted. E 2. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. 3. An agreement was executed between the parties on 11[th] May, 1984 for construction of Assembly building in the State of Madhya Pradesh. Dispute arose from the agreement. The High Court of Delhi F appointed an arbitrator vide order dated 13[th] December, 1988. The Arbitrator gave the award on 21[st] June, 1989 which was made Rule of the Court by Delhi High Court on 28[th] September, 1989. Execution proceedings were taken by the appellant. Learned Single Judge allowed the execution vide Order dated 6[th] September, 1991 against which an G appeal was filed before the Division Bench of the High Court. 4. The Division Bench vide order dated 5[th] July, 2012 directed that the enforceability of the decree will depend upon the fate of another appeal which was pending between the parties. The said appeal, FAO (OS)No.23/1998, is still pending but the High Court has deferred the H 259 PURI CONSTRUCTIONS PVT. LTD. v. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH same pending decision of larger Bench of this Court in pursuance of A judgment of this Court in Madhya Pradesh Rural Road Development Authority and Anr. v. L.G. Chaudhary Engineers and Contractors, (2012) 3 SCC 495. It may be noted that the larger Bench has decided the matter on 8[th] March, 2018. In terms of the said decision the dispute between the parties has to be settled in accordance with the provisions B of the M.P. Madhyastham Adhikaran Adhiniyam, 1983 (M.P. Act). 5. However, since in the present case the award has been rendered long back which was not challenged by the respondents and the matter is pending at the stage of execution, we direct that the award be treated to have been rendered under the M.P. Act. C 6. In view of above, we transfer pending proceedings before Delhi High Court being FAO (OS)NO.23/1998 and connected matters to High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Jabalpur to be treated as revision petition under the M.P. Act. 7. Another dispute between the parties was referred to arbitration vide order dated 19[th] May, 1993. However, before the arbitration proceedings could be decided the arbitrators are said to have expired. 8. In the circumstances pending Arbitration proceedings shall stand transferred to the M.P. Arbitration Tribunal under the M.P. Act, to be dealt with as per provisions of the M.P. Act in accordance with law. The proceedings may be carried out in continuation of earlier proceedings. D E 9. The parties may take steps by moving the High Court or any other forum for transfer of records to the transferee courts in the light of this Order. 10. The appeal is accordingly disposed of. F 11. The parties may appear before the High Court/Tribunal for further proceedings on 9[th] July, 2018. > Appeal disposed of. G H Kalpana K. Tripathy