S.C. Pandey, J.

1. This is an appeal against the order dated 1.2.1998 passed by Seventh Additional district Judge, Bhopal, in Arbitration Case No. 1 of 1998, where by he has disposed of the application filed by the appellant under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hence-forth 'the Act'). Section 37 (1) of the Act specifically provides that the Court competent in law to hear appeals from the original decree of the Court, passing the order, inter alia, under Section 9 of the Act shall hear the appeal. Thus Court is competent to hear this appeal.

2. The facts of this case giving rise this appeal may be briefly stated. The applicant is a State-level Co-operative Society, registered under the MP, Co-operative Societies Act 1960, having its head office at Bhopal. It carries on the business of extraction of oil and produces deoiled cakes from Soyabean. Apart from marketing Soyabean oil, the appellant also exports de-oiled cakes to various countries as Soyameal for making different items of food of high protein content.

3. The appellant entered into two agreements dated 22.10.1997 with the respondent No. 1, which is a public company registered under the Companies Act 1956. Its name is PepsiCo India Holdings Ltd. (PIH, for short). It appears that the two agreements were of complementary in nature. The respondent No. 1 required the appellant to procure Soyabean seeds of a given quality for purchasing them and delivering them at the processing unit of the appellant at Banapura or Ujjain. The respondent No. 1 agreed to pay price which would be at par with that in open market or even better. It would be obvious that the purpose of respondent No. 1 in entering into agreement was to employ the services of the appellant for collecting the Soyabean seeds and reaching them to its own processing plants instead of buying them from open market or employing some other agency in line of business for procuring the Soyabean seeds for the respondent No. 1 with a condition that they reach the plants of the appellant at Ujjain or Banapura.

4. The respondent No. 1 further entered into another agreement on 22.10.1997 which required the appellant to extract oil from Soyabean seeds supplied by the respondent No. 1 at the processing plant of the appellant at Ujjain or Banapura. After subjecting to certain processes the appellant obtained clean seed. Thereafter moisture from the seeds had to be recovered for obtaining dry clean seed. After that the Oil content in the seeds was removed for extracting oil to obtain dry clean de-oiled cakes. The extracted oil is a bye-product of processing. However, the clean de-oiled cakes are further treated with oil on clean seed basis to obtain Net Dry De-oiled cakes. The Net Dry De-oiled cleaned cakes could be subject to further processing by adding moisture, and silica for making a cake marketable as Soyameal cake. In this process of making a Soyameal cake the initial oil extracted on seed basis is reduced by the content present in the Soyameal. It appears that the respondent No. 1 required the cakes so prepared for its international market. It chose to sell the extracted oil to the appellant itself.

5. It would not be out of place now to reproduce in "extermo" some of the important clauses of the agreement for PROCUREMENT of Soyabean seeds.

PROCUREMENT AGREEMENT

This Agreement is made and entered on this 22nd day of October 1997 between PepsiCo India Holdings Ltd., a Company registered under the Companies Act 1956 and having its Head Office at 38, DLF Corporate Park, S Block, Qutab Enclave, Phase III, Gurgaon, Haryana 122 002, hereinafter called the 'PURCHASER' which term shall unless repugnant to the context or contrary to its meaning thereof include its successors executors and assignees of the first part and M/s. M.P. State Cooperative Oilseed Growers Federation Ltd, 1 Arera Hills, Bhopal (Unit Ujjain or Banapura at the option of PIH) hereinafter calls PROCURER which term unless repugnant to the context or count