Judgment

SHAH, J. : These three appeals were filed by the appellants M/s. Jethanand & Sons with certificate of fitness granted under Art. 133(1) (c) of the Constitution by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad.

2. The appellants entered into three separate contracts with the Government of the United Provinces (now called the State of Uttar Pradesh) on March 20, 1947, May 27, 1947, and June 28, 1947, for the supply of stone ballast at Shankar Garh, District Allahabad. The contracts which were in identical terms contained the following arbitration clause:

"All disputes between the parties hereto arising out of this contract whether during its continuance or after its rescission or in respect of the construction or meaning of any clause thereof or of the tender, specifications and conditions or any of them or any part thereof respectively or anything arising out of or incident thereto for the decision of which no express provision has hereinbefore been made, shall be referred to the Superintending Engineer of the Circle concerned and his decision shall in all cases and at all times be final, binding and conclusive between the parties.

3. Pursuant to the contracts, the appellants supplied stone ballast. Thereafter, purporting to act under cl. (16) of the agreements, the Executive Engineer, Provincial Division referred certain disputes between the appellants and the State of Uttar Pradesh, alleged to arise out of the performance of the contracts to arbitration of the Superintending Engineer of the Circle concerned. The Superintending Engineer required the appellants to appear before him at the time fixed in the notices. The appellants by their letter dated May 31, 1951, declined to submit to the jurisdiction of the Superintending Engineer, and informed him that if he hears and determines the cased ex parte, the "decisions will not be binding on them. On February 7, 1953 the Superintending Engineer made and published three awards in respect of the disputes arising under the three contracts and filed the same in the court of the Civil Judge, Lucknow. The appellants applied for setting aside the awards alleging that the contracts were fully performed and that the dispute alleged by the State of Uttar Pradesh to have arisen out of the contracts could not arise after the contracts were fully performed and that the State could not refer those alleged disputes to arbitration. They also contended that the awards were not valid in law because on the arbitration agreements, action was not taken under S. 20 of the Arbitration Act. The Civil Judge, Lucknow, held that the disputes between the parties were properly referred to the Superintending Engineer by the State of Uttar Pradesh and that the awards were validly made. Against the orders passed by the Civil Judge, Lucknow, three appeals were preferred by the appellants to the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad.

4. The High Court set aside the orders passed by the Civil Judge and remanded the cases to the Trial Judge with a direction that he do allow the appellants and if need be, the respondent to amend their pleadings, and frame all issues that arise out of the pleadings and allow the parties an opportunity to place such evidence as they desire and decided the case on such evidence. In the view of the High Court no proper notice of the filing of the awards was served upon the appellants and that they were "seriously handicapped in their reply by the course which had been adopted both by the court and the arbitrator in the conduct of the proceedings in court. On the applications filed by the appellants, the High Court granted leave to appeal to this court under Art. 133 (1) (c) of the Constitution, certifying that the cases were fit for appeal to this court.

5. Counsel for the respondent has urged that the High Court was incompetent to grant certificate under Art. 133(1)(c) of the Constitution.

6. The order passed by the High Court was manifestly passed in exercise of the inherent power