( 1 ) THIS appeal arises in the following circumstances. Sheo Dularay filed an application under section 14 (2) of the Arbitration Act before the Court below alleging that he was appointed arbitrator by the present appellant and the respondents Nos. 1 and 2 to effect partition of immovable properties situate at village Korar and Sair as also at Lucknow. He made his Award on 9-10-1973 and filed the same in the Court below on 6-11-1973. The respondents Nos. 1 and 2 filed their separate objections praying that the Award be set aside, on a variety of grounds stated in their objections. One of the common grounds taken in the objections was that the Award having not been made on stamp-paper of requisite value was inadmissible in evidence and cannot be acted upon and that the Award which was compulsorily registrable had not been registered under the provisions of the Indian Registration Act; hence it was invalid. The present appellant Maheshwar Dayal disputed this assertion. A number of other grounds were taken impugning the Award but they need not be mentioned here for the purposes of this appeal. A preliminary issue was framed in the following terms :-

"whether impugned a