Vikas Kumar Jain v. Rishi Vashishtha & Anr.

1. The present petition under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as “the A&C Act”) seeks constitution of an Arbitral Tribunal to adjudicate the disputes between the parties.

SACHIN DATTA, J. (Oral)

2. The disputes between the parties have arisen in the context of an Agreement to Sell dated 26.01.2024 (hereinafter ‘agreement to sell’) entered into with respect to property bearing no. 284/7, area measuring 5.85 Sq. Mtrs. i.e., 7 Sq Yds., consisting of (i) shop on ground floor, having its covered area 5.85 Sq. Mtrs., with proportionate undivided share in the land underneath, (i) First floor with roof/terrace rights, with the rights of upper floor & further construction upto the last storey, having its covered area 5.85 Sq. Mtrs., with proportionate undivided share in the land underneath, out of Khasra No. 792, situated in the abadi of Doongar Mohalla, Pandav Road, Vishwas Nagar, in the area of village Chandrawali alias Shahdara, Illaqa Shahadra, Delhi-110032, (hereinafter called ‘the said property’).

3. Vide the said agreement to sell, the petitioner agreed to purchase the property from the respondent no.1 for a consideration of Rs. 35,00,000/- (Rupees thirty five lakhs only), out of which, the petitioner allegedly paid an amount of Rs. 1,00,000 on 26.01.2024 and Rs. 2,50,000/- on 27.01.2024.

4. It is stated that the remaining amount was to be paid at the time of registration of the sale deed. According to the petitioner, the respondent could not adhere to the terms of the agreement to sell and hence the disputes arose between the parties.

5. The agreement to sell contains an arbitration clause as under:-

6. Learned counsel for the respondent while not disputing the existence of the arbitration agreement, strongly refutes the contentions sought to be raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner on the merits of the matter. Needless to say, the same would be gone into by a duly constituted Arbitral Tribunal. Since the existence of the arbitration clause is evident from a perusal of the said agreement to sell, there is no impediment in appointing an independent sole arbitrator for adjudicating the disputes between the parties as prayed for, as mandated in terms of the judgments of the Supreme Court in SBI General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Krish Spinning, 2024 INSC 532 and Interplay between Arbitration Agreements under the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 & the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, In re, 2023 SCC “CLAUSE 7 OF AGREEMENT TO SELL DATED 26.01.2024” “That if there is any dispute arises between the parties then both the parties can appoint the arbitrator either with mutual consent or by court of law and arbitrator will decide according to arbitration act and same will be binding on parties.” OnLine SC 1666.

7. Accordingly, Ms. Shreya Singhal, Advocate (Mob.: 9811747392) is appointed as the Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties under the aforesaid agreements.

8. Respondents shall be entitled to raise appropriate objections as regards jurisdiction/ arbitrability, if any, before the learned sole arbitrator which shall be duly considered by the learned sole arbitrator in accordance with law.

9. The learned Sole Arbitrator may proceed with the arbitration proceedings subject to furnishing to the parties requisite disclosure as required under Section 12 of the A&C Act; and in the event there is any impediment to the appointment on that count, the parties are given liberty to file an appropriate application in this court.

10. The learned Sole Arbitrator shall be entitled to fee in accordance with IVth

11. All rights and contentions of the parties in relation to the claims/counter-claims are kept open, to be decided by the learned Arbitrator on their merits, in accordance with law. Schedule to the A&C Act; or as may otherwise be agreed to between the parties and the learned Sole Arbitrator.

12. Needless to say, nothing in this order shall be construed as an expression of this court on the merits of the case.

13. The present petition stands disposed of in the above terms.

SACHIN DATTA, J NOVEMBER 18, 2024