JUDGMENT :

R. SUBRAMANIAN, J.

The appellant was visited with an award passed by the Facilitation Council constituted under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006.

2. Section 18 of the said Act which provides for mediation as well as arbitration of disputes reads as follows:-

18. Reference to Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council.-

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, any party to a dispute may, with regard to any amount due under section 17, make a reference to the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council. (2) On receipt of a reference under sub-section (1), the Council shall either itself conduct conciliation in the matter or seek the assistance of any institution or centre providing alternate dispute resolution services by making a reference to such an institution or centre, for conducting conciliation and the provisions of sections 65 to 81 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (26 of 1996) shall apply to such a dispute as if the conciliation was initiated under Part III of that Act.

(3) Where the conciliation initiated under sub-section (2) is not successful and stands terminated without any settlement between the parties, the Council shall either itself take up the dispute for arbitration or refer it to any institution or centre providing alternate dispute resolution services for such arbitration and the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (26 of 1996) shall then apply to the disputes as if the arbitration was in pursuance of an arbitration agreement referred to in sub-section (1) of section 7 of that Act.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council or the centre providing alternate dispute resolution services shall have jurisdiction to act as an Arbitrator or Conciliator under this section in a dispute between the supplier located within its jurisdiction and a buyer located anywhere in India.

(5) Every reference made under this section shall be decided within a period of ninety days from the date of making such a reference.

This clause seeks to provide for the jurisdiction of the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council for acting as an arbitrator or conciliator in respect of the matters referred to in clause 17. (Notes on Clauses). 19. Application for setting aside decree

3. The effect of Section 18 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 is, an award passed by the Council becomes an award under the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, thus making it subject to challenge under Section 34 of the said enactment before the competent Court.

4. Section 19 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 provides for, challenge to the award should not be entertained by the Court unless the person who has been directed to pay any amount under the award, deposits with it 75% of the said amount.

5. In order to overcome this difficulty of pre-deposit, the appellant chose to challenge the award before this Court in W.P.No.24410 of 2023. The appellant however chose to withdraw the writ petition and this Court allowed withdrawal with liberty to move the appropriate Court under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. The operative portion of the order of this Court in W.P.No.24410 of 2023 reads as follows:-

2. When it was pointed out that the petitioner cannot invoke the discretionary jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution to challenge the order dated 30.12.2022 in Case No.MSEFC/TRY/18/202 passed by the first respondent under Section 18 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006, in view of the effective alternative remedy available under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, before the jurisdictional Court as held by the Hon-ble Supreme Court of India in India Glycols Limited ~Vs~ Micro an