Bombay High Court
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited vs Asian Satellite Broadcast Private ... on 19 September, 2022
Author: B. P. Colabawalla
Bench: B. P. Colabawalla
13-CARAP-168-2021.doc
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
IN ITS COMMERCIAL DIVISION
COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION APPLICATION NO. 168 OF 2021
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. .. Applicant
Vs.
Asian Satellite Broadcast Pvt. Ltd. & Ors. .. Respondents
Karl Tamboly a/w. Swapnil Gupte & Akshay Motwani i/b. Economic Laws
Practice, for the Applicant.
CORAM:- B. P. COLABAWALLA,J.
DATE :- 19th SEPTEMBER, 2022.
P. C.:
1. The above Arbitration Application is filed under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 [for short "the Arbitration Act"] seeking the appointment of a Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes and differences between the Applicant and the Respondents arising out of and/or in connection with and/or in relation to the Assignment Agreement dated 16th May 2018. The Arbitration Agreement between the parties can be found at clause 3.4 in the said Agreement Ganesh Lokhande page 1 of 5 13-CARAP-168-2021.doc which reads thus:
"3.4 Dispute Resolution and Jurisdiction All disputes relating to or arising out of, under or pursuant to this Agreement shall be submitted to the arbitration of a sole arbitrator to be jointly appointed by the parties to the dispute. The arbitration shall be conducted in Mumbai and in English and shall be governed by the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and any modifications thereto."
2. Since disputes arose between the parties under the aforesaid Assignment Agreement, the Applicant invoked Arbitration against Respondent Nos. 1 to 4 vide their letter dated 24 th March, 2021 and against Respondent No.5 vide their letter dated 1 st September, 2021. Despite having received the notices of invocation, the Respondents did not respond to the same. It is in these circumstances that the Applicant has approached this Court seeking the constitution of the Arbtiral Tribunal as per clause 3.4 of the Assignment Agreement dated 16 th May, 2018.
3. The Respondents have been duly served with this Application as evidenced by the Affidavit of Service dated 17 th June, 2022. Despite service, none have appeared on behalf of the Respondents. In these circumstances, I am proceeding to dispose of the above Application in their absence.
Ganesh Lokhande page 2 of 5 13-CARAP-168-2021.doc
4. I have gone through the Assignment Agreement and I am satisfied that there is a binding Arbitration Agreement between the Applicant and the Respondents herein. From what is stated in the notices of invocation, it is also quite clear that disputes have arisen between the Applicant and the Respondents which need to be resolved through the process of Arbitration.
5. In these circumstances, the following order is passed:
(a) Mr. Anoshak Davar, an advocate of this Court, is hereby appointed to act as a Sole Arbitrator to decide upon the disputes and differences between the Applicant and the Respondents arising out of and/or in connection with and/or in relation to the Assignment Agreement dated 16th May, 2018.
(b) A copy of this order will be communicated to the learned Sole Arbitrator by the advocates for the Applicant within a period of one week from today.
(c) The learned Sole Arbitrator is requested to forward his Statement of Disclosure under Section 11 (8) read with Section 12 (1) of the Arbitration Act to the advocates for the Applicant so as to enable them to file the same in the Registry of this Court. The Registry of this Court shall retain the said Statement on the file of this Application and a copy of the same shall be furnished by the Ganesh Lokhande page 3 of 5 13-CARAP-168-2021.doc advocates for the Applicant to the Respondents.
(d) The parties shall appear before the learned Sole Arbitrator on such date and at such place as he nominates to obtain appropriate directions with regard to fixing a schedule for completing pleadings etc. The Arbitral Tribunal shall give all further directions with reference to the arbitration and also as to how it is to proceed.
(e) Contact and communication particulars shall be provided by all sides to the learned Sole Arbitrator within a period of one week from today. This information shall include a valid and functional email address as well as mobile numbers of the respective advocates.
(f) The Sole Arbitrator shall charge his fees as per the 4th Schedule of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 read with the Bombay High Court (Fee payable to Arbitrators) Rules, 2018.
(g) The Arbitral costs and fees of the Arbitrator will be borne by both sides equally and will be subject to the final award that may be passed by the Tribunal. If for any reason the Respondents do not appear before the Tribunal, then the costs of the Arbitration and the Fees of the Arbitrator shall at the first instance be borne entirely by the Applicant and will be subject to any final award passed by the Tribunal in that regard.
Ganesh Lokhande page 4 of 5 13-CARAP-168-2021.doc
6. The Arbitration Application is disposed in the aforesaid terms. However, there shall be no order as to costs.
7. This order will be digitally signed by the Personal Assistant of this Court. All concerned will act on production by fax or email of a digitally signed copy of this order.
Digitally signed by GANESH GANESH SUBHASH ( B. P. COLABAWALLA, J. ) SUBHASH LOKHANDE LOKHANDE Date:
2022.09.22 11:36:07 +0530 Ganesh Lokhande page 5 of 5