1. The petitioner before us is, as Mr. Chetan Sharma, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner, felicitously put it, a “purveyor of niche cars”, the “niche cars” in question being manufactured by Bayerische Motoren Werke – translated, into English, as “Bavarian Motor Works”, and popularly known, to the layman as “BMW” – a Munich-based automobile-manufacturing company, or was, till the 31st of December 2017, when its “purveyor ship” was brought to an end, by the respondent, by the simple act of refusing to renew its contract with the petitioner. Incensed, the petitioner has moved this court, purportedly under Section 9 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as “the 1996 Act”).

2. This matter was mentioned on 29th December 2017, and allowed for listing for the same date. In view of the volume of material involved, I had re-listed the matter for the next day, i.e. 30th December 2017, on which date I put it, to learned senior counsel for the petitioner, that the case could be re-listed before the regular roster bench after vacation on 2nd January 2018. Both counsel, however, submitted that, as the petitioner‘s dealership was coming to a