Alok Kumar Lodha vs Asian Hotels (North) Ltd. & Ors. on 20 December, 2023
8. Learned senior counsel for the plaintiffs has broadly raised two
objections in opposing the present applications. Firstly, it is submitted that
the subject matter of the suits, is per se non-arbitrable. It is submitted that
the present suits seek a declaration in rem regarding the subject shops, which
would involve determining the status or title of an individual with respect to
the property, binding all third parties who currently have or may in the
future have an interest in the premises. Such declarations can only be
granted by courts, as they are binding on not only interested third parties
who may have an interest in the same property but also on the general
public. It is also submitted that all declaratory reliefs do not fall under
Section 34 of Specific Relief Act, 1963. It is further submitted that the
present suits involve determination of plaintiffs' rights as an owner or
irrevocable licensee, which can only be in rem and therefore directly fall
within the non-arbitrable categories of disputes as laid down in Booz Allen
& Hamilton Inc. v. SBI Home Finance Ltd. 1, R. Viswanathan v. Rukn-ul-
Mulk Syed Abdul Wajid 2, Emaar MGF Land Ltd. v. Aftab Singh3, Sharad
v. Hemant Kumar4, Fenner (India) Ltd. v. Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer
Corporation Ltd. 5 and Vidya Drolia v. Durga Trading Corpn6. It is further
submitted that even though the judgment in Himangni Enterprises v.