1. The dispute regarding the domain name ‘internet.in’ forms the subject O.M.P. No.132 of 2007 Page 1 of 27 matter of the present petitions under Section 34 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘Act’) directed against an Award dated 5th July 2006 passed by the learned sole Arbitrator (Respondent No.1 in O.M.P. No. 132 of 2007) appointed by the National Internet Exchange of India (‘NIXI’) .

2. Respondent No. 2 (in O.M.P. No. 132 of 2007) Mr. Jagdish Purohit filed a complaint before the .IN Registry of NIXI on 31st January 2003, under Para 4 of the .IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (‘INDRP’) to the effect that the domain name ‘internet.in’ registered by the Petitioner, Mr. Stephen Koenig, was identical and confusingly similar to the registered trade mark ‘internet’ of Respondent No. 2; that the Petitioner had no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the said domain name and that the Petitioner’s domain name had been registered or was being used in bad faith. The Petitioner responded to the notice issued to him and defended the domain name registration in his favour.

3. The learned Arbitrator passed the impugned Award on 5th July 2006 in which inter alia