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2022 Supreme(SC) 1420
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
M.R. Shah, B.V. Nagarathna, JJ.
Widescreen Holdings Private Limited & Anr. Etc. – Appellant
Versus
Religare Finvest Limited & Anr. Etc – Respondent
Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (C) Nos. 6826-6829 of 2022 (Arising Out of impugned final Judgment and Order Dated 10-01-2022 in Arb.A.(Comm.) No. 8 of 2021 10-01-2022 in Arb.A.(Comm.) No. 6 of 2021 10-01-2022 in Arb.A.(Comm.) No. 7 of 2021 10-01-2022 in Arb.A.(Comm.) No. 9 of 2021 Passed by the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi)
Decided On : 22-04-2022
Mr. Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Nakul Dewan, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Aman Raj Gandhi, Advocate, Mr. Vardaan Bajaj, Advocate, Ms. Ira Mahajan, Advocate, Ms. Aarzoo Aneje, Advocate, Mr. Ram Chandra Madan, Advocate, Ms. Nooran Sarna, Advocate, Ms. Neelu Mohan, Advocate, For the Appellant / Mr. Ashish Dholakia, Sr. Advocate, Ms. Aishwarya Singh, Advocate, Mr. Akash Panwar, Advocate, Mr. Rohan Chawla, Advocate, Mr. Shashwat Sarin, Advocate, Mr. Sandeep Devashish Das, Advocate, For the Respondent.
The document must be produced before any Court/Tribunal for impounding, and the Arbitrator may take a call on the impounding of the document if produced by the original claimant.
Headnote:
Impounding - Loan Agreement - The court upheld the decision of the High Court, justifying the impounding of the loan agreement containing the arbitration clause. It emphasized that the document must be produced before any Court/Tribunal for impounding, and the Arbitrator may take a call on the impounding of the document if produced by the original claimant.
Fact of the Case:
The original applicant did not produce the original loan agreement containing the arbitration clause, leading to a dispute over impounding the document.
Finding of the Court:
The court upheld the decision of the High Court, emphasizing that the document must be produced before any Court/Tribunal for impounding, and the Arbitrator may take a call on the impounding of the document if produced by the original claimant.
Issues: Dispute over impounding the loan agreement containing the arbitration clause.
Ratio Decidendi: The document must be produced before any Court/Tribunal for impounding, and the Arbitrator may take a call on the impounding of the document if produced by the original claimant.
Final Decision: The present Special Leave Petition stands dismissed, and pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of.
ORDER
1. We have heard Shri Neeraj Kishan Kaul, learned Senior Advocate appearing for the petitioners and Shri Ashish Dholakia, learned Senior Advocate for the respondents.
2. Considering the fact that even the loan agreement which contains the arbitration clause which was sought to be impounded is not produced before any Tribunal and/or Court and till then, there is no question of impounding any document, the High Court is justified in passing the impugned order.
3. Shri Kaul, learned Senior Advocate has submitted that the original applicant(s) is not placing on record the original loan agreement containing the arbitration clause. If the original claimant who has initiated the arbitration proceedings relying upon the arbitration clause contained in the loan agreement is not producing the same, it is ultimately for the learned Arbitrator to pass an appropriate order and to take into consideration such a conduct. So far as the impounding of the document is concerned unless and until the same is produced on record before any Court/Tribunal, there is no question of any impounding the same, as observed hereinabove.
4. The Arbitrator may take call on the impounding of document provided it is produced by the original claimant.
5. With this observation, the present Special Leave Petition stands dismissed.
6. Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of.
