JUDGMENT :

Moushumi Bhattacharya, J.

1. The petitioner/award-debtor prays for stay of operation and setting aside of an arbitral award dated 18.10.2022 passed by the West Bengal Micro Small Enterprises Facilitation Council. The impugned award was based on a claim of the respondent no. 1 against the petitioner in a reference made before the Facilitation Council under the provisions of The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006.

2. The respondent no. 1/award-holder raises a preliminary objection to the application on the ground that the Calcutta High Court does not have territorial jurisdiction to entertain the application for stay and setting aside of the award. The respondent’s argument is premised on the fact that the office of the MSME Council was only the venue for the arbitration and that the dispute resolution clause provides for conciliation and arbitration to be conducted at Bhubaneswar. Learned counsel places the other clauses of the agreement executed between the parties to urge that the parties agreed that the Courts of Odisha shall have exclusive jurisdiction for any disputes, differences and claims arising out of the agreement. Counsel submits th