ORDER

The present petition under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, has been filed by the petitioner against the respondent seeking appointment of an Arbitrator in terms of the Arbitration Agreement contained at Clause Nos.7 and 9 in the Agreement dated 16.01.2017 entered into between the parties.

2. Clauses – 7 and 9 of the said Agreement, which contains an Arbitration clause, reads as under:-

“7. Any of the dispute arising out of this agreement will be resolved by taking recourse to mutual settlement or by way arbitration proceedings subject to the clauses of Indian Arbitration Act in the first instance failing which the dispute will be adjudicated in the Court of law having jurisdiction in the city of Bangalore only. The expenses of this arbitration proceedings will be bared by both the parties equally.”

9. Dispute Resolution That any dispute or differences between the parties herein including the interpretation of this agreement, the same shall be referred to sole arbitrator appointed by mutual consent of both parties. The arbitration proceedings shall be conducted as per the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The decision of arbitrator shall be final and binding on both parties. The place of arbitration shall be at Bangalore.”

3. The material on record discloses that since disputes arose between the parties in relation to the aforesaid Agreement containing the aforesaid arbitration agreement / clause, the petitioner invoked the aforesaid arbitration clause and issued a notice dated 23.03.2021 to the respondent putting forth various claims and contentions and nominating and appointing a sole arbitrator and calling upon the respondent to give its concurrence /

consent to refer the dispute to arbitration.

4. The respondent has not sent any reply nor has they disputed the existence of arbitration agreement / clause in the contracts entered into between the parties. Subsequently, the parties have not only failed to resolve their disputes but they have also not reached any consensus / agreement for appointment of an arbitrator and as such, petitioner is before this Court by way of the present petition. Even in the present petition, respondent has not entered appearance and has chosen to remain unrepresented and do not dispute or deny the existence of arbitration agreement /

clause in the contracts entered into between the parties.

5. In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, though several contentions have been urged by both sides in support of their respective claims, having regard to the undisputed fact that there exists an arbitration agreement / clause in the contracts entered into between the parties, without expressing any opinion on the merits / demerits of the rival contentions, I deem it just and appropriate to allow this petition by referring the dispute between the parties to arbitration with the consent of both sides by appointing Shri S.Rama Murthy, retired District Judge, to act as the sole Arbitrator to resolve the dispute between the parties under the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, as per the Rules governing the Arbitration and Conciliation Centre (Domestic & International) at Bengaluru.

6. In the result, I pass the following ORDER (i) Petition is hereby allowed.

(ii) Shri S.Rama Murthy, retired District Judge, is hereby appointed as the sole Arbitrator to resolve the dispute between the parties as per the Rules governing the Arbitration and Conciliation Centre (Domestic & International) at Bengaluru.

(iii) All rival claims, contentions, etc., of both parties including contentions relating to maintainability, arbitrability, jurisdiction, limitation, stamp duty, etc., are left / kept open to be decided by the Arbitral Tribunal and no opinion is expressed on the same.

(iv) A copy of this order be sent forthwith to the Arbitration and Conciliation Centre (Domestic & International), Khanija Bhavan, Bengaluru, for proceeding further and also to Shri S.Rama Murthy, re