Important Point
Defence put up by defendant or stand adopted in application for rejection of plaint cannot be looked into.

Abhilasha Kumari, J.

1. The present application has been preferred under Order 7 Rule 11(d) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 ("the Code"), for the rejection of the plaint.

2. The applicant, Hermes Marines Limited, is a corporate entity incorporated under the laws of Marshall Island. It is the owner of the defendant Vessel M.V. Atlantis (IMO No. 8128078), which is a foreign ship flying the flag of Togo, Port of Registry, and is a bulk carrier. It is presently at the port and harbour of Alang West Coast at Alang, Bhavnagar, within the territorial waters of India and, thus, within the Admiralty jurisdiction of this Court.

3. Opponent No. 1/plaintiff - Capeshore Maritime Partners FZC (referred to as the plaintiff, for convenience), is a Company incorporated under the laws of the United Arab Emirates and is engaged in carrying on the business of the sale and purchase of vessels, including old vessels for the purpose of demolition, navigation and chartering.

4. The plaintiff instituted the above-mentioned Admiralty Suit, invoking the Admiralty jurisdiction of this Court praying, inter alia, for a decree for the possession of the defendant Vessel along with her hull, tackle, machinery, engines and paraphernalia and for the transfer of the ownership of the defendant Vessel in favour of the plaintiff be issued. By way of ex-parte, ad-interim relief, the plaintiff sought the arrest of the defendant ship.

5. It is stated in the plaint that on 13.12.2015, a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was executed between the plaintiff and the applicant herein, for the purpose of the purchase of the defendant Vessel, for demolition by the plaintiff. As per the terms and conditions of the MoA, the plaintiff was to deposit 20% of the amount of the purchase price as notified by the applicant, namely USD 4,96,398/- into its account. On 15.12.2015, the first Addendum was executed between the parties, whereby certain clauses were inserted in the MoA. The second Addendum was executed on 22.12.2015, whereby information pertaining to banking was provided. The third Addendum was executed on 04.01.2016 and the fourth one on 11.02.2016. By the last Addendum, Clause 4 of the original MoA was substituted. As per the MoA, the outer time limit for the delivery of the Vessel was 15.01.2016, at the Seller's option with the cancelling date being 18.01.2016, at the buyer's option. In all cases, time for voyage was to be allowed.

6. It is the case of the plaintiff, as set out in the plaint, that the applicant could not fulfil its obligation as per the MoA, for tendering the valid Notice of Readiness (NoR) with proof of all inward clearances. The defendant Vessel was to reach Alang West Coast on 08.01.2016, as per the Seller's option, with the cancelling date as 11.01.2016, at the buyer's option. The plaintiff gave notice to the applicant for the final compliance as per the terms of the MoA, read with the Addendum. The total claim of the plaintiff sought to be recovered from the defendant, as stated in the plaint is USD 8,66,196.00 = Rs. 5,89,01,328.00. There is no dispute that the claim of the plaintiff arises out of a contract of sale of the defendant Vessel. According to the plaintiff, it is a maritime claim.

7. This Court, by an order dated 24.02.2016, ordered the arrest of the defendant Vessel M.V. Atlantis. Under the circumstances, the applicant herein, who is the owner of the defendant Vessel, has filed the present application for the rejection of the plaint.

8. Mr. Mihir J. Thakore, learned Senior Counsel has appeared for the applicant with Mr. A.S. Vakil, learned advocate. Learned Senior Counsel has submitted that as per the averments made in the plaint, the plaintiff claims that it has a "maritime claim" under Article 1(v) of the International Convention on the Arrest of Ships (Geneva) 1999 ("the Geneva Convention of 1999" for short) and Article 1(o) of the International Convention Relating to the Arrest of Sea Going Ships (Brussels), 1952 ("the Brussels Conv