Calcutta High Court
Aarzoo Altmesh & Anr vs Magma Fincorp Limited on 20 December, 2019
Author: Ashis Kumar Chakraborty
Bench: Ashis Kumar Chakraborty
OD-73
ORDER SHEET
IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
Ordinary Original Civil Jurisdiction
ORIGINAL SIDE
A.P. No. 441 of 2019
With
G.A. No. 1534 of 2019
AARZOO ALTMESH & ANR.
Versus
MAGMA FINCORP LIMITED
BEFORE:
The Hon'ble JUSTICE ASHIS KUMAR CHAKRABORTY
Date : 20th December, 2019
Appearance:
Mr. S. E. Huda, Adv.
Mr. Avishek Das, Adv.
Mr. Ritoban Sarkar, Adv.
Mr. Himadri Ray, Adv.
...for the petitioner
Mr. Swatarup Banerjee, Adv.
Mr. Paritosh Sinha, Adv.
Mr. K.K. Pandey, Adv.
Mr. S. Bose, Adv.
...for the respondent
The Court: In this application under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 as amended by Act 3 of 2016 (in short, "the Act of 1996") the petitioner has prayed for setting aside of the award made and published by the sole arbitrator, Shri Ganesh Manna on March 30, 2019.
In view of the grounds urged by the petitioner in support of the application this Court directed the arbitrator to produce the records of the arbitral proceeding. The arbitrator has produced the records of the -2- arbitral proceeding. In the award the arbitrator has recorded that the witness of the claimant, the respondent herein adduced evidence proved the hypothecation-cum-loan agreement as also the claim of the claimant. However, the records of the arbitral proceeding do not disclose a scrap of document to substantiate that any one adduce oral evidence on behalf of the claimant, the respondent herein in the arbitral proceeding to prove its claim. Thus, the impugned award passed by the arbitrator shocks the conscience of this Court and as held by the Supreme Court in he case of Associate Builders v. Delhi Development Authority reported in (2015) 3 SCC 49. The impugned award is liable to be set aside.
For the reasons aforesaid, the application filed by the petitioner succeeds and the impugned award made and published on March 30, 2019 by the sole arbitrator is set aside with costs assets at Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand only)to be paid by the arbitrator to the State Legal Services Authority by way of an account payee cheque drawn by himself. This is the third time the arbitrator has been found to be the guilty of the same misconduct. If in future the arbitrator accepts any duty under the Act of 1996, he shall disclose this order to the parties.
In view of setting aside of the arbitral award made by the arbitrator, the application, G.A. No. 1534 of 2019 stands disposed of accordingly.
-3-
The records of the arbitral proceeding be kept in a sealed cover.
The respondent may, however, take back the original documents if any, from the Department after furnishing copies thereof, for the purpose of initiating fresh arbitral proceeding against the respondent.
The application will appear, under the heading "To Be Mentioned" on January 10, 2020 to ascertain if the arbitrator has paid the costs as directed above.
(ASHIS KUMAR CHAKRABORTY, J.) TO