NEUTRAL CITATION NUMBER- 2023/DHC/001798

Page 1 of 18

$~

*

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

Date of Decision: 14^thMarch, 2023

+

ARB.P. 608/2022

PRIME INTERGLOBE PRIVATE LIMITED

..... Petitioner

Through:

Mr. Sameer Jain, Mr. Suvigya

Awasthy, Mr. Vivek Joshi, Mr.

Rohan

Gulati,

Ms.

Radha

Gupta, Advocates.

versus

SUPER MILK PRODUCTS PRIVATE LIMITED

..... Respondent

Through:

Mr. Ashish Dholakia, Senior

Advocate

with

Mr.

Aseem

Chaturvedi, Mr. Shivank Diddi,

Mr. Milind Jain, Ms. Abhipriya,

Mr.

Arpit

Kumar

Singh,

Advocates.

%

CORAM:

HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE PRATEEK JALAN

J U D G M E N T

1.

By way of this petition under Section 11 of the Arbitration and

Conciliation Act, 1996 [hereinafter, “the Act”], the petitioner seeks

appointment of an arbitrator to adjudicate claims raised by it against

the respondent arising out of an agreement dated 03.10.2016, entitled

“Master Franchise Agreement” [hereinafter, “MFA”].

Digitally Signed By:SHITU

NAGPAL

Signing Date:14.03.2023

19:13:30

Signature Not Verified

NEUTRAL CITATION NUMBER- 2023/DHC/001798

Page 2 of 18

A. Facts:-

2.

By way of the MFA, the petitioner was appointed as the

“Master Franchisee” in respect of the trademark “KEVENTERS”,

which the respondent claimed to have the right to use, and for the

purpose of selling milkshakes under “kiosk franchise model” in

designated territories.

3.

The detailed terms of the MFA are irrelevant for the purposes of

the present petition. Suffice it to say that the MFA contains an

arbitration clause in Clause 28. The arbitration clause provides for a

sole arbitrator to be appointed by the franchisee [the petitioner herein],

out of a panel of three people suggested by the franchisor [the

respondent herein]. New Delhi has been designated as the place of

arbitration. By virtue of Clause 30.2 of the MFA, Courts in Delhi have

been vested with exclusive jurisdiction over all matters arising out of

the MFA.

4.

Disputes having arisen between the parties, the petitioner

addressed a notice dated 21.05.2019 to the respondent, whereby it

inter alia invoked the arbitration clause and proposed the name of an

arbitrator.¹It claimed an amount of Rs. 5.93 crores from the

respondent. In the said communication, reference was also made to an

earlier notice dated 20.05.2019, in which it appears that the

petitioner’s claims were identified. However, that notice is not on

record in these proceedings.

5.

The respondent, through counsel, replied by a legal notice dated

28.05.2019 disputing the petitioner’s contentions and also making

1 Document P-5(colly) of the petitioner’s list of documents.

Digitally Signed By:SHITU

NAGPAL

Signing Date:14.03.2023

19:13:30

Signature Not Verified

NEUTRAL CITATION NUMBER- 2023/DHC/001798

Page 3 of 18

allegations of breach against the petitioner.²Three names were

proposed, from which the petitioner was called upon to select the

arbitrator. The petitioner, through counsel, responded by a letter dated

09.06.2019, asserting its own choice of arbitrator.³

6.

By a communication dated 14.06.2019, learned counsel for the

respondent once again called upon the petitioner to select one of the

three names suggested by it. Learned counsel for the petitioner, by his

reply dated 21.06.2019, again disputed the respondent’s contentions.

7.

In these circumstances, the respondent filed ARB.P. 474/2019

before this Court for appointment of an arbitrator “for adjudication of

the disputes between the parties”.⁴

8.

By an order dated 26.07.2019, the petition was disposed of in

the presence of learned counsel for both sides. The order reads as

follows⁵:-

“This petition has been filed under Section 11 of the

2 Ibid.

3 Document-4 in the respondent’s list of additional documents.

4 Prayer Clause (a) in ARB. P. 474/2019.

5 Document P-6 of the petitioner’s list of documents.

Digitally Signed By:SHITU

NAGPAL

Signing Date:14.03.2023

19:13:30

Signature Not Verified

NEUTRAL CITATION NUMBER- 2023/DHC/001798

Page 4 of 18

In view of the above, Mr. Sudhanshu Batra, Senior

Advocate

Da