Judgment:-

J.M. Panchal, J.

1. By filing the instant application under Section 11 (6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ("the Act" for short), the applicant, i.e., Speech & Software Technologies (India) Pvt. Ltd. has prayed to appoint Mr. Justice Arvind Sawant (Retd.), former Chief Justice, High Court of Kerala, as sole arbitrator and to refer the disputes to him, which have arisen between the applicant and the respondent during the course of execution of Services Agreement dated July 15, 2006.

2. Therelevant facts, which emerge from the record of the case, are as under: -

The applicant is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956. Its registered office is situated at Chennai. The respondent is a company having its registered office at London. The applicant and the respondent entered into a Services Agreement dated July 15, 2006. Under the said agreement, the applicant was to provide services to the respondent as set out in schedule 2 to the said agreement. The respondent had agreed to make payment of 15,500 per month to the applicant and also to compensate the Director of the applicant for coordination activities. A copy of the agreement dated July 15, 2006 is produced by the applicant at Annexure ‘1 to the application. It is the case of the applicant that since December, 2006 the respondent refused to make any payment to the applicant and insisted for execution of another agreement as suggested by the principal shareholder of the respondent. The applicant has averred that the applicant was not inclined to enter into new agreement as suggested by the respondent and as the respondent had failed to comply with the terms of the Services Agreement dated July 15, 2006, it terminated the said agreement by sending notice dated February 15, 2007 in terms of Clause 19 of the agreement. By the said letter the applicant also appointed Mr. Justice Arvind Sawant (Retd.), former Chief Justice of Kerala High Court, as the sole arbitrator and called upon the respondent to appoint its arbitrator in the event the respondent did not agree to the appointment of Mr. Justice Arvind Sawant (Retd.) as the sole arbitrator. A copy of the notice dated February 15, 2007 is produced by the applicant at Annexure ‘3 to the application.

3. On receipt of the notice the advocate of the respondent addressed a letter dated March 15, 2007 urging the applicant not to take any unilateral action for a period of two weeks so as to enable him to obtain comprehensive instructions in the matter in order to effectively study and evaluate the issues involved in the matter. The case of the applicant is that the respondent did not give reply to the notice dated February 15, 2007, nor concurred in the appointment of Mr. Justice Arvind Sawant (Retd.) as sole arbitrator nor appointed its arbitrator. The applicant has claimed that it is entitled to recover a sum of 252,911-76 from the respondent for the services rendered. Under the circumstances the applicant has filed the instant application and claimed relief to which reference is made earlier.

4. On receipt of notice from this Court, the respondent has filed reply affidavit. In the reply affidavit it is mentioned by the respondent that the Services Agreement dated July 15, 2006 was signed on July 31, 2006 and August 1, 2006 by the applicant and the respondent respectively, after which Tripartite Share Purchase Agreement was executed on August 1, 2006, of which Services Agreement dated July 15, 2006 formed part as schedule ‘A to the agreement. It is averred in the reply that Share Purchase Agreement, inter-alia provided that on certain events not taking place by July 31, 2006, the Tripartite Share Purchase Agreement would stand terminated. According to the respondent the said Tripartite Share Purchase Agreement stood automatically terminated as the various events mentioned therein did not take place by July 31, 2006 and as Services Agreement relied upon by the applicant was part of the said agreement the