Arbitration awards, lacking jurisdiction, do not equate to money decrees; interim relief granted during appeal pending jurisdictional determinations.

1. Rule, returnable today, Mr. A. R. Thacker waives service of rule on behalf of respondent. With the consent of parties, this application is taken up for final hearing today.

2. The applicant of this Civil Application has filed First Appeal, being First Appeal No. 17 of 2006 under S.37 (1) (b) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the Arbitration Act) which is admitted by this Court and pending for final hearing. By this Civil Application, it is prayed that during the pendency of the said First Appeal, the order passed by the trial Court i.e. by learned Additional District Judge, Gandhidham, Kutch in CMA No. 215 of 2005 may be stayed during the pendency of the appeal.

3. The Civil Application has been opposed by the respondents on the ground that the award given by the Arbitrator should be treated as a money decree, and, therefore, absolute stay cannot be granted and the applicant may be directed to deposit the amount awarded by the Arbitrator.

4. Since the Civil Application is hotly contested by the respondents, the same is required to be decided by giving appropriate reasons and by dealing with factual aspects of the case in detail as well as by considering the provisions of the Arbitration Act as well as case laws cited by both the sides in this behalf.

5. The opponent herein, formerly known as Bellarpur Industries Limited and now known as BILT Chemicals Limited, is a Company incorporated under the Companies Act and having its registered office at Binaga, Karnataka State. The applicant was, at the relevant time, engaged in the business of importing Furnace Oil from foreign countries and selling the same to its customers all over the country. It is the case of the applicant that in the year 1998, the applicant and opponent entered into negotiations for sale / purchase of Furnace Oil. The applicant made a formal offer for selling Furnace Oil and there was a counter offer made by the opponent. It is not necessary to go into the minute details about the contract entered into between the parties as this Court is required to consider only whether interim relief is required to be granted during the pendency of the appeal or not. However, suffice it to say that after some discussions between the parties, a contract was finalized and the applicant arranged for import of furnace oil from Bahrain Petroleum Company, which was to be sold to the opponent. It is the case of the applicant that the applicant has never agreed to the condition regarding arbitration clause which was suggested by the respondent in its letter dated 14-4-1998. Thereafter, a High Seas Sale Agreement dated 19-5-1998 was entered into between the applicant and the opponent and the terms and conditions and specification of cargo as well as jurisdiction of the Court were stated and incorporated in the writing. The case of the applicant is that there is no arbitration clause at all in the agreement entered into between the parties, and the agreement did not contain any cause for appointment of arbitrator for settlement of disputes, if any, between the parties.

6. Subsequently, a dispute arose between the parties as the opponent refused to uplift the cargo and refused to honour its commitment in respect of payments. The case of the applicant is that the applicant suffered massive loss, and therefore, the applicant has filed a Suit being Special Civil Suit No. 24 of 2000 in the Court of Civil Judge, Senior Division, Gandhidham for recovery of Rs. 1,53,82,594/- with interest. The said suit is pending in the trial Court.

7. The opponent however referred the dispute and its claim against the applicant for arbitration, and requested its General Manager,