The present petition has been filed under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 seeking the appointment of a sole arbitrator according to the Arbitration Clause stipulated in the Lease Deed dated 30.09.2014.

The Ghaziabad Development Authority, the first respondent, and the second respondent entered into an agreement by way of a sale deed wherein the first respondent conveyed the rights of a multiplex to the second respondent.

Thereafter, the petitioner entered an arrangement with the second respondent, whereunder it invested approximately Rs. twenty-five crores to begin operations in the multiplex bought by the second respondent. When disputes arose between the parties, the petitioner attempted to invoke the arbitration clause in the sale deed for the mall but was not successful due to a lack of cooperation and response from the respondents. Thus, the petitioner filed the present petition, seeking the appointment of a sole arbitrator under section 11(6) of the Arbitration Act.

The second respondent contested the jurisdiction of the Court to entertain the present petition, on the ground that the title deeds relied upon by the petitioner were signed in Ghaziabad. Likewise, the subject matter of the sale deed was also located in Ghaziabad. The petitioner, on the other hand, contended that the objection of the second respondent to the territorial jurisdiction is bad in law, as the arbitration clause in the sale deed clearly provided for the place or seat of the arbitration to be at New Delhi.

Issue

The primary issue in the present case was whether the arbitration clause in the sale deed provides for the place or seat of the arbitration to be at New Delhi.

Judgment

The Court leaned in favor of the petitioner's submission that the seat of the arbitration alone will determine which court would have jurisdiction to entertain a petition under section 11(6) of the Arbitration Act. The Court relied on, amongst other decisions, the judgment in Bharat Aluminium Company & Ors. v. Kaiser Aluminium Technical Service, Inc. & Ors. and held that a bare perusal of the arbitration clause shows that the parties have clearly designated New Delhi as the place for arbitration proceedings. Therefore, it was held that since the designated seat is at New Delhi, this Court would have jurisdiction to entertain the present petition, even though the cause of action may have arisen in Ghaziabad.

Thus, the present petition deserves to be allowed and the court-appointed Mr. Justice Madan B. Lokur, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India as sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties. The learned Arbitrator shall give disclosure under Section 12 of the Act before entering upon the reference. The fee of the Arbitrator shall be fixed as per the Fourth Schedule of the Act.