C.L. SONI, J.

1. The common issue raised in the present petitions is as regards maintainability of the applications being Misc. Civil Application Nos. 15 of 2014 to 18 of 2014 respectively filed under section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (to be referred as 'the Act') by the respondent in the District Court, Amreli.

2. To briefly state, the respondent entered into Shipbuilding Contract on 6.12.2006 with each of the petitioners for designing, building, etc., the 'Vessel' at Pipavav in Gujarat, to deliver and sell the same to each petitioner which the petitioners agreed to purchase and accept the delivery and to pay for the same upon terms and conditions mentioned in the contracts. In the contracts, the respondent is referred as 'Builder' and the petitioner of each petition is referred as 'Buyer'. There appears to be no dispute that the terms, conditions and all clauses in the contracts are similar and therefore, for the sake of convenience, the copy of the contract placed with the first petition shall be looked into. Following was the Arbitration Agreement when the contract was entered between the parties:

"Article XII-Arbitration

1. Decision by the Classifi