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33. Law and arbitration (state Cl 31(a) or 31(b) or 31(c), as agreed, If 31c agreed also state place of arbitration) (Cl.31) Clause 31(c) - Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 at Mumbai .... . "

17. I must provide some background before dealing with other documents, as the faxed CPA sits at the center of this dispute.

18. It appears that both parties signed the faxed CPA, and it bears the applicant's seal. However, it does not bear the respondent's seal. The applicant contends that it had sent the original to the respondent on August 22nd. The respondent did not return the original. Instead, on September 8th, the respondent's head office faxed a copy of the CPA to its local office. [The top of the said fax shows the date and time as well as the place from and to which it was sent; it reads "08-SEP-

2005 13:52 FROM IOEC HEAD OFFICE TO ALLAHVERDI"].

This faxed copy is signed by the respondent's Project Director, Mr. M. Sabbaghi.

19. The respondent's Mr. Ali Rahmati provided the applicant the faxed CPA on October 12th, according to the applicant's letter dated October 21st. In a letter dated October 26, the respondent originally asserted that it never signed the faxed CPA and that the document was forged.

20. Between the date on which the applicant sent the faxed CPA - 22nd August - and the date on which the respondent reportedly returned it to the applicant - 12th September, ONGC had advised the respondent to get the vessel combination certified before proceeding with a Riser installation. ONGC's letter dated 30th August stated that the vessel did not have any past track record with riser installations.

40. First, the faxed CPA is signed by both parties. Second, the applicant's statement to this effect was not denied in the pleadings [See the last page of the respondent's supplementary written submission of May 13th, 2005: ("...it was not signed properly and but for the last page, the said fax communication, did not bear signature on other page.")

41. Third, the respondent admitted in its letter dated 14th September that the original CPA "... is ready in our office and will be hand to you." The applicant argues that because the applicant had already signed the original CPA, there was nothing left for the respondent to do but sign. Hence, by saying it was "ready", I may infer that it was signed.

56. The respondent could argue that it handed over an unsigned copy of the faxed CPA and that the applicant forged it after the fact. Such an assumption is equally dubious. Why would the respondent go through the trouble of returning the applicant's August 22nd CPA unsigned, when it had been routed vide fax through its Head Office?

57. There is no evidence to suggest that the faxed CPA was forged. To the contrary, the evidence we do have is the faxed CPA bearing the parties' signatures coupled with correspondence between the parties. The correspondence, as it is more than just a pleading, adds additional weight to the applicant's story. The applicant's letter of 21st October corroborates the allegation that Ali Rahmati delivered the faxed CPA to the applicant on 12th September. The date of delivery of 12th September fits the timeline provided on the fax header, as the respondent could only have delivered the faxed CPA after 8th September. Moreover, it appears that having received the faxed CPA on 12th September, the applicant was prompted to ask for the original vide email on 14th September. Once again, the dates match up.