2013 Supreme(Bom) 766
High Court of Judicature at Bombay
ANOOP V. MOHTA, J.
Patel Engineering Co. Ltd.
Versus
B.T. Patil & Sons Belgaum (Construction) Pvt. Ltd.
Arbitration Petition No. 891 of 2010
Decided On : 04-04-2013
For the Petitioner:Aspi Chinoy, Senior Advocate a/w F.E. De Vitre, Senior Advocate, Mustafa Doctor, Nirmay Dave i/b M/s. Bachubhai Munim & Co., Advocates.
For the Respondent:Uday Hola, Senior Advocate a/w N.V. Bandivadekar, Sagar Mane, Advocates.
Act Referred
EVIDENCE ACT : S.114
The Petitioner (Original Respondent) has challenged Award dated 25 January 2010, under section 34 of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (for short Arbitration Act).
2 The operative part of the award is as under:-
“CLAIM NO.1:-
25 The claimant has claimed an amount of Rs.11,55,23,065/- being balance of the Award amount pertaining to Vol. I.
25.1. It is an admitted fact that, the Respondents have received Award amount of Rs.31,40,60,958/-towards Vol. I Award. As per the terms of the subcontract/ piece work contract the Respondent is entitled for margin/commission of 11.5%. The same works out Rs.3,61,17,010/-Thereby the share of BTP/SBP together works out to Rs.27,79,43,948/- Out of this BTP has received an amount of Rs.15,50,98,891/- leaving balance payable by Respondent to BTP and SBP which works out to Rs.12,28,45,057/-SBP has not at all received its share out of Vol. I Award and accordingly, in the claim statement, SBP has claimed its full share to the tune of Rs.5,37,17,487/- The details of the same are depicted in Annexure C-153 page-3, as well as in Annexure C-47. It is an admitted fact that the Respondents have not denied these calculations made available in Annexure C-153 nor produced any counter calculations against demands of the Claimant to defend the differences, if any. On the contrary, the Respondent's witness No. 2 Sri Muraleedharan, who is the accountant of the Respondent, who was examined as a witness has not denied the correctness of this computation, therefore, SBP is entitled for Rs.5,37,17,487/- for which separate award is being made. As stated herein supra, the total balance receivable by BTP and SBP aggregates to Rs.12,28,45,057/- If the claim of SBP is deducted from this amount the balance amount payable to BTP is Rs.6,91,27,570/- and this amount has to be awarded in favour of BTP along with the interest thereon at 18% p.a. from 15.06.2001 till the date of award. The interest subsequent thereto is awarded under the separate head of interest.
26. The Claimant BTP has claimed an amount of Rs.4,14,88,793/- being balance of the Award amount pertaining to Vol. II.
26.1 It is an admitted fact that, the Respondents have received Award amount of Rs.24,09,25,965/- towards Vol. II Award. As per the terms of the subcontract/ piece work contract, the Respondents are entitled for margin/commission of 11.5 %. This works out to Rs.2,77,06,486/- Therefore, the share of BTP/SBP together works out to Rs.21,32,19,479/- Out of this BTP has already received an amount of Rs.10,54,37,033/-The balance payable by Respondent to BTP and SBP works to Rs.10,77,82,446/- SBP has not at all received its share out of Vol. II Award and accordingly, in the claim statement SBP has claimed its full share to the tune of Rs.6,15,23,377/- The details of the same are set out in Annexure C-153 page-5 as well as in Annexure C48. Respondents have not denied these calculations made available in Annexure C-153 nor produced any counter calculations against demands of the Claimant to defend the differences, if any. On the contrary, the Respondent's witness No. 2 Sri Muraleedharan, who is the accountant of the Respondent, who was examined as a witness has not denied the correctness of this computation. Since SBP is entitled for Rs.6,15,23,377/-and a separate ward is being made in that regard the amount payable to BTP would be Rs.4,62,59,069/- This amount is legitimately due to BTP herein, as against their claim of Rs.4,14,88,793/- As the Claimant has claimed lesser amount than what is due to them the Claimant BTP herein is entitled for only Rs.4,14,88,793/-Along with the interest thereon at 18% p.a from 13.04.2000 till the date of award. The interest subsequent thereto is awarded under the separate head of interest.
CLAIM NO.3:
27. The Claimant BTP has claimed an amount of Rs.26,12,08,613/- towards its share of the Award amount payable to it under the Award of amount pertaining to Vol. IV and V. The details of the calculations are ma