JUDGMENT

Sanjeev Narula, J. The present appeal under Section 13(1) of the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of the High Courts Act, 2015 (hereinafter 'Commercial Courts Act') read with Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter 'the Arbitration Act') impugns the judgment dated 5th April 2019 passed by the learned Single Judge in OMP (Comm) No. 140/2019.

2. The petition [O.M.P (COMM) No. 140/2019] was filed under Section 34 of the Arbitration Act, assailing the Arbitral award dated 14th December 2018, passed by the Maharashtra Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council, Konkan Region, Thana (hereinafter "MSME Council"). The learned Single Judge dismissed the aforesaid petition on the ground that this Court does not have the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the petition. Since the learned Single Judge has not examined merits of the case and has decided the petition only on the ground of jurisdiction, the scope of the present appeal lies in narrow compass and is restricted to evaluation of the legality of the impugned order on the issue of jurisdiction of this Court.

Brief Facts:

3. The bare essential fac