1. Both the arbitration application and the arbitration petition have been filed by the same Petitioner and are taken up for final disposal together.

2. The Application is filed for appointment of an Arbitrator under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The Petition is filed under Section 9 of the Act for interim reliefs pending disposal of the arbitral proceedings.

3. A contention has been raised by the Respondent that there is no arbitration agreement between the parties. Since the relief prayed for in both, the application as well as the petition, will depend upon resolution of this question, it will have to be decided first. It is however necessary to give a brief background of the dispute to understand the context to which this question has arisen.

4. The Petitioner-NAS Aviation Services India Pvt. Ltd.(NAS) is a company which provides ground handling services to airline companies in India. The Respondent-Kingfisher Airlines Limited (Kingfisher) is a company which provides Scheduled Air Transport Services (passenger). NAS and Kingfisher entered into a cargo handling contract on 22 June 2009. Under this contract, NAS was to provide ground and ca