Tirupati Fuels Private Limited vs M.S.T.C. Limited on 22 May, 2026

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    Calcutta High Court

    Tirupati Fuels Private Limited vs M.S.T.C. Limited on 22 May, 2026

                          IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
                               COMMERCIAL DIVISION                                    2026:CHC-OS:253
    
                                  ORIGINAL SIDE
                              RESERVED ON: 20.05.2026
                              DELIVERED ON: 22.05.2026
                                   PRESENT:
                     THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE GAURANG KANTH
                                 AP-COM 317 OF 2026
                               [OLD NO. AP 406 OF 2022]
                          TIRUPATI FUELS PRIVATE LIMITED
    
                                        VERSUS
    
                                    M.S.T.C. LIMITED
    
    Appearance:
    Mr. Mainak Bose, Sr. Adv.
    Mr. Ramesh Ch. Prusti, Adv.
    Ms. Mahuya Ghosh, Adv.
    Ms. Sharmistha Sardar, Adv.
    Ms. Pallabhavi Sengupta, Adv.
                                                                 ..... for the petitioner
    
    Mr. Samriddha Sen, Adv.
    Mr. Sourjya Roy, Adv.
    
                                                             ..... for the respondent
    
    
                                      JUDGMENT
    

    Gaurang Kanth, J.:-

    1. The Petitioner has preferred the present petition under Section 11 (6) of the

    Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 for the appointment of the arbitrator

    for adjudication of the disputes that have arisen between the parties

    arising out of the agreement between 18.06.2010.

    2. The facts leading to the present case are as follows:

    3. The Petitioner is engaged in the business of sale of LAM Coke and Coking

    Coal. The Respondent is a Government of India enterprise providing

    services in various e-commerce sectors, including e-auction, e-

    procurement, high sea sales, e-sales and retail software.
    2

    SPONSORED

    2026:CHC-OS:253

    4. An agreement dated 18.06.2010 was executed between the parties,

    whereunder the Respondent, in consultation with the Petitioner, was

    required to procure materials from overseas and open Letters of Credit

    covering the value of such materials in terms of the purchase orders upon

    the foreign sellers. Thereafter, the Respondent was required to sell the

    imported materials to the Petitioner on a High Sea Sale basis. The

    agreement further provided that the entire quantity of materials as per the

    Bills of Lading would be pledged by the Petitioner to the Respondent, to be

    stored with a designated agency in safe custody and delivered against

    authorisation letters issued by the Respondent. The agreement also

    conferred upon the Respondent the right to sell the materials on behalf of

    the Petitioner, at the Petitioner’s risk and cost, in the event of the

    Petitioner’s failure to make payment for or take delivery of the imported

    materials. This right was exercisable upon issuance of fifteen days’ notice

    to the Petitioner, following which the Respondent could exercise its lien

    over the goods, sell them to any third party of its choice, and adjust the

    sale proceeds in pro tanto satisfaction of its claim. Any loss arising from

    such sale was required to be indemnified by the Petitioner.

    5. In pursuance of the said agreement, the Petitioner imported Coking Coal

    through the Respondent by way of Letters of Credit. During the period

    2008-09, a global recession led to a significant reduction in demand for

    Coke, on account of which the Petitioner was constrained to defer its plans

    for conversion of the imported Coking Coal into Coke. The Petitioner claims

    to have performed its obligations under the agreement and to have

    maintained a security deposit with the Respondent in excess of Rs. 21

    Crores, which was entitled to earn interest at the rate of 14% per annum.
    3

    6. By a letter dated 06.06.2012, the Petitioner requested the Respondent 2026:CHC-OS:253
    to

    refund the security deposit along with accrued interest for the period from

    01.04.2011 to 31.12.2011, amounting to Rs. 9.60 Crores. The Petitioner

    also offered a permanent settlement of dues as on 31.12.2011 at Rs. 51.61

    Crores, subject to the Respondent extending a fresh exposure of Rs. 100

    Crores to enable the Petitioner to continue its business operations. No

    response was received from the Respondent to the said letter.

    7. The Respondent did not exercise its contractual right of lien nor did it

    proceeded to sell the imported goods.

    8. In the year 2012, the Petitioner offered storage space at its plant site to

    facilitate the Respondent in storing and subsequently selling the goods

    towards mitigation of losses. The materials have since remained lying at

    the Petitioner’s plant site at Nanichiria, Gandhidham, Gujarat, occupying

    an area in excess of 10 acres. The Petitioner contends that on account of

    the commercial area so occupied, it has suffered loss and damages in

    excess of Rs. 10 Crores. It is further the case of the Petitioner that the

    Respondent, while continuing to stock the said quantity of Coking Coal at

    the Petitioner’s stockyard, has failed to refund the security deposit

    together with interest accrued thereon.

    9. The Respondent subsequently initiated winding up proceedings against the

    Petitioner, which were later transferred to the National Company Law

    Tribunal, Kolkata, bearing TP/02/KB/2021.

    10. By a letter dated 18.03.2022, the Petitioner invoked the arbitration clause

    under Clauses 20 and 21.1 of the agreement dated 18.06.2010 in

    accordance with Section 21 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996,

    and proposed the name of an Arbitrator. In response, the Respondent, vide
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    2026:CHC-OS:253
    its letter dated 26.04.2022, contended that the Petitioner, in various

    correspondences, had already admitted and acknowledged a crystallised

    and admitted debt payable to the Respondent, and that in view of such

    admission, no dispute capable of adjudication by an Arbitral Tribunal

    subsisted between the parties. The Petitioner, however, contests this

    position and maintains that by reason of the storage of materials at its site

    and the non-refund of the security deposit, it has suffered substantial loss

    and damage, giving rise to disputes requiring adjudication through

    arbitration.

    11. In view of the foregoing, the Petitioner has preferred the present Petition

    under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, seeking

    appointment of an Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes arising out of the

    agreement dated 18.06.2010.

    Submission on behalf of the Petitioner

    12. Mr. Mainak Bose, learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the

    Petitioner, submitted that the present petition is maintainable in law and

    that all conditions precedent for invoking the jurisdiction of this Court

    under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 stand

    duly satisfied. It was submitted that a valid, subsisting and binding

    arbitration agreement exists between the parties under Clauses 20 and

    21.1 of the agreement dated 18.06.2010, and that the Petitioner had duly

    invoked the said arbitration clause vide letter dated 18.03.2022 strictly in

    accordance with Section 21 of the Act. It was further submitted that the

    Respondent, having expressly acknowledged receipt of the said invocation

    notice and having responded thereto vide its letter dated 26.04.2022,

    cannot now be permitted to approbate and reprobate by contending that
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    2026:CHC-OS:253
    no arbitrable dispute exists between the parties. In this regard, learned

    Senior Counsel placed reliance upon the judgments of the Hon’ble

    Supreme Court in SBI General Insurance Company Ltd. v. Krish

    Spinning, reported as (2024) 12 SCC 1 and Aslam Ismail Khan

    Deshmukh v. ASAP Fluids Pvt. Ltd., reported as (2025) 1 SCC 502, and

    submitted that the settled legal position emerging from the said judgments

    is that once the existence of a valid arbitration agreement is established

    and a dispute is prima facie shown to exist, the Court at the stage of

    consideration under Section 11 of the Act, is neither required nor

    permitted to undertake a deeper or more intrusive examination into the

    merits, validity, or strength of the claims, and the appointment of an

    arbitrator ought to follow as a matter of course.

    13. On the question of limitation, learned Senior Counsel submitted that

    Article 113 of the Limitation Act, 1963 would govern the claims of the

    Petitioner in the present case. It was pointed out that Article 113, which

    applies to suits for which no period of limitation is provided elsewhere in

    the Schedule, is distinct from the residuary Article 137, which governs

    applications. The crucial distinction, it was urged, lies in the fact that

    Article 113 prescribes that limitation begins to run only “when the right to

    sue accrues”, a formulation that has a distinct, precise and well-settled

    legal connotation in law, and which cannot be mechanically equated with

    the date of the underlying transaction, the date of an alleged breach, or the

    date on which a payment first fell due. Placing reliance upon the judgment

    of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Shakti Bhog Food Industries Ltd. v.

    Central Bank of India, reported as (2020) 17 SCC 260, learned Senior

    Counsel submitted that the right to sue accrues only at the point when a
    6

    demand or claim made by one party is denied, repudiated, or met with2026:CHC-OS:253
    a

    clear and unequivocal refusal by the other, thereby giving rise to a lis

    between the parties capable of adjudication. It was urged that a mere

    efflux of time, silence on the part of the opposite party, or the continuation

    of a contractual relationship between the parties cannot, by itself, be

    treated as the accrual of the right to sue, and that until a demand is made

    and met with a refusal or repudiation, the cause of action does not

    crystallise so as to set the period of limitation in motion.

    14. It was further submitted that the claims of the Petitioner in the present

    case, namely, the refund of the security deposit together with accrued

    interest thereon, and the damages arising out of the Respondent’s

    continued and unauthorised stocking of imported materials at the

    Petitioner’s premises occupying an area in excess of 10 acres, do not arise

    from a single identifiable act of default occurring at a fixed and

    determinable point in time. On the contrary, the Respondent’s failure to

    refund the security deposit and its continued occupation of the Petitioner’s

    stockyard without authorisation, consent or compensation constitute a

    continuing wrong, inasmuch as the default is repeated and renewed with

    each passing day, giving rise to a fresh cause of action and a fresh period

    of limitation with each successive period of such default. Accordingly, it

    was urged that the right to sue in respect of the Petitioner’s claims cannot

    be said to have accrued at any single anterior point of time so as to render

    those claims time-barred, and that the arbitration clause having been duly

    invoked vide letter dated 18.03.2022 upon crystallisation of the disputes

    between the parties, the present petition is clearly within limitation. It was

    therefore submitted that no part of the Petitioner’s claims can be said to be
    7
    2026:CHC-OS:253
    barred by the law of limitation, whether under Article 113 or 137 or any

    other provision of the Limitation Act, 1963, and the Respondent’s objection

    on this ground deserves to be rejected in limine.

    15. In further support of his submissions on the issue of limitation, learned

    Senior Counsel placed reliance upon the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme

    Court in Ramesh B. Desai & Ors. v. Bipin Vadilal Mehta, reported as

    (2006) 5 SCC 638, and submitted that the question of limitation is

    quintessentially a mixed question of law and fact, the determination of

    which necessitates an examination of the evidence, conduct of the parties,

    and the circumstances giving rise to the cause of action. It was accordingly

    urged that the Arbitral Tribunal, being the competent and appropriate

    forum for adjudication of all factual and legal disputes between the parties,

    is the proper authority to decide upon the question of limitation of the

    substantive claims, and that this Court ought not to foreclose such

    adjudication at the threshold stage of Section 11, where no detailed

    evidentiary inquiry is either permissible or warranted.

    16. In conclusion, learned Senior Counsel prayed that the present petition be

    allowed, and that an independent and impartial Arbitrator be appointed by

    this Court to adjudicate all disputes and differences between the parties

    arising out of and in connection with the agreement dated 18.06.2010,

    with all questions of law, fact, limitation and merits being expressly left

    open for determination by the Arbitral Tribunal.

    Submission on behalf of the Respondent

    17. Mr. Samriddha Sen, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the

    Respondent, submitted that under the agreement dated 18.06.2010, the

    Respondent acted as a facilitator for the Petitioner for procurement of LAM
    8
    2026:CHC-OS:253
    Coke and Coking Coal for the Petitioner’s plants at Kandla Stockyard and

    Vishakhapatnam Stockyard, and that in pursuance thereof, the

    Respondent imported the requisite materials at its own cost and expense

    on behalf of the Petitioner. It was submitted that the Petitioner thereafter

    failed and neglected to lift the said materials, on account whereof the

    Respondent has accrued a claim in excess of Rs. 79,65,65,295/- as on

    27.12.2013, arrived at after due appropriation of the security deposit of

    Rs. 10,16,26,475/- standing to the credit of the Petitioner. It was

    accordingly contended that the said amount constitutes a crystallised,

    admitted and undisputed debt, leaving no dispute referable to arbitration.

    It was further submitted that the Petitioner, in various correspondences,

    has itself acknowledged the debt owed to the Respondent, rendering the

    present petition a transparent attempt to circumvent the legitimate

    winding up proceedings pending before the National Company Law

    Tribunal, Kolkata Bench, being TP/02/KB/2021, which proceedings are

    directly founded upon the same agreement dated 18.06.2010. It was

    additionally submitted that the Respondent had, in good faith,

    endeavoured to conduct an e-auction of the imported materials to mitigate

    its losses, however the Petitioner failed to confirm the price, causing the e-

    auction to lapse, thereby further compounding the Respondent’s losses.

    18. On the question of limitation, learned counsel for the respondent submitted

    that the Petitioner’s reliance upon Article 113 of the Limitation Act, 1963 is

    wholly misconceived, inasmuch as Article 113 governs suits and has no

    application to a petition under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and

    Conciliation Act, 1996, which is an application in its essential character

    and is therefore governed by the residuary Article 137 of the Limitation
    9

    Act, prescribing a period of three years from the date on which the right 2026:CHC-OS:253
    to

    apply accrues. It was submitted that the right to invoke arbitration in the

    present case first accrued to the Petitioner on 27.12.2013, when the

    Respondent formally communicated the crystallised outstanding dues

    payable by the Petitioner, categorically appropriated the security deposit

    towards the said dues, and explicitly warned that in the event of non-

    payment, winding up proceedings would be initiated. It was urged that this

    communication of 27.12.2013 constituted a clear, unequivocal and

    definitive crystallisation of the dispute between the parties, from which

    date limitation commenced and is liable to be reckoned, and that the

    invocation of the arbitration clause only in the year 2022, after a gap of

    nearly nine years, renders both the Section 11 petition and the underlying

    claims ex facie barred by limitation under Article 137.

    19. Learned counsel further submitted that the Petitioner’s plea of a continuing

    cause of action and continuing wrong is wholly untenable in the facts of

    the present case. It was urged that the doctrine of continuing wrong

    applies only where the wrongful act is repeated or renewed on each

    successive day, and not where, as in the present case, there was a single

    completed act of default and crystallisation of disputes in the year 2013, of

    which the Petitioner had full, clear and unambiguous knowledge. It was

    submitted that the Petitioner remained completely silent for nearly nine

    years and took no steps whatsoever towards invocation of the arbitration,

    and that no subsequent communication, including the Respondent’s

    notice of e-auction dated 29.11.2021, could have the effect of resurrecting

    or extending a right to invoke arbitration that had long since accrued and

    in respect of which the period of limitation had already expired by efflux of
    10

    time. It was further urged that the present case involves no intricate 2026:CHC-OS:253
    or

    complex question of mixed law and fact warranting reference to the

    learned Arbitral Tribunal, as much as the crystallisation of the disputes

    and the commencement as well as expiry of limitation stand demonstrably

    evident from the record itself and do not require any detailed factual

    inquiry.

    20. Learned counsel placed reliance upon Arif Azim Company Ltd. v. Aptech

    Ltd., reported as (2024) 5 SCC 313, to contend that the Court exercise

    jurisdiction under Section 11(6) is not a mere post office and is duty-

    bound to satisfy itself on two distinct aspects: first, whether the Section

    11(6) petition has itself been filed within the period of limitation under

    Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963; and second, whether the claims

    sought to be referred to arbitration are ex facie dead claims hopelessly

    barred by limitation on the face of the record. Reliance was also placed

    upon B and T AG v. Ministry of Defence, reported as (2024) 5 SCC 358,

    to urge that whether particular facts constitute a cause of action must be

    determined with reference to the substance of the dispute and the specific

    facts of each case, and that upon a substantive examination of the present

    matter, the cause of action had indisputably crystallised in 2013 with no

    fresh or independent cause of action having arisen thereafter. Learned

    counsel further sought to distinguish Krish Spinning (supra) relied upon

    by the Petitioner, by placing specific reliance upon paragraph 40 of the

    said judgment, submitting that the said paragraph expressly carves out

    and preserves the referral court’s jurisdiction to reject petitions where

    claims sought to be referred are ex facie time-barred, warranting dismissal
    11
    2026:CHC-OS:253
    of the petition at the threshold itself without requiring reference of such

    disputes to arbitration.

    21. In view of the foregoing, learned counsel for the Respondent prayed that the

    present petition be dismissed both on the ground of absence of any

    arbitrable dispute, the Petitioner having admitted the debt owed to the

    Respondent, and on the ground that the petition as well as the underlying

    claims are ex facie barred by limitation. It was accordingly urged that the

    appointment of an Arbitrator in the present facts and circumstances would

    serve no purpose and would result only in unnecessary delay and

    harassment of the Respondent.

    Legal Analysis

    22. This Court has heard the arguments advanced by learned counsel for both

    the parties and has carefully examined the documents placed on record

    and the Judgments relied upon by the parties.

    23. The threshold question that arises for consideration in the present petition

    concerns the extent of inquiry that this Court is required or permitted to

    undertake at the stage of appointing an Arbitrator under Section 11(6) of

    the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The law on this aspect now

    stands authoritatively and finally settled by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in

    Krish Spinning (supra) and Aslam Ismail Kan (supra) wherein a three-

    Judge Bench, after an elaborate survey of the entire line of precedents on

    the issue, held that the scope of judicial scrutiny under Section 11(6) is

    confined solely to the prima facie examination of the existence of an

    arbitration agreement between the parties. The Hon’ble Supreme Court

    unequivocally held that the referral court is not required, and indeed is not

    permitted, to embark upon any deeper or more intrusive examination of
    12
    2026:CHC-OS:253
    the merits of the dispute, the validity of the claims, the conduct of the

    parties, or the question as to whether a full and final settlement has been

    arrived at. The Court further held that all such questions, including

    questions relating to accord and satisfaction, admission of debt, and the

    validity or enforceability of particular claims, fall exclusively within the

    domain of the Arbitral Tribunal and are required to be decided by learned

    Tribunal, either as a preliminary issue or along with the merits.

    24. In the present case, the existence of the arbitration agreement contained in

    Clauses 20 and 21.1 of the agreement dated 18.06.2010 is not in dispute.

    The Respondent has not challenged the validity or existence of the

    arbitration agreement. In view of the binding pronouncement of the

    Hon’ble Supreme Court in Krish Spinning (supra) and Aslam Ismail Kan

    (supra), the inquiry of this Court must therefore be limited to verifying the

    existence of the said agreement, which is clearly established from the

    materials on the record.

    25. The Respondent has placed reliance upon the judgment of the Hon’ble

    Supreme Court in Arif Azim Company Ltd. (supra) to urge that this

    Court, while exercising jurisdiction under Section 11 of the Act, is duty-

    bound to satisfy itself on two counts: first, whether the Section 11(6)

    petition is itself barred by limitation; and second, whether the claims

    sought to be referred to arbitration are ex facie dead claims barred by

    limitation on the date of commencement of arbitration proceedings. While

    it is correct that the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Arif Azim Company Ltd.

    (supra) held that Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963 applies to

    petitions under Section 11(6) of the Act, prescribes a period of three years

    from the date on which the right to apply accrues, and further held that a
    13
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    referral court may, in an appropriate case, decline to refer disputes that

    are manifestly and ex facie time-barred, it is equally important to

    appreciate the significant clarification and qualification of the said position

    as laid down by the subsequent three-Judge Bench of the Hon’ble

    Supreme Court in Krish Spinning (supra) and Aslam Ismail Kan (supra).

    The Hon’ble Supreme Court in Krish Spinning (supra) and Aslam Ismail

    Kan (supra) expressly clarified that insofar as the question of limitation of

    the underlying claims is concerned, the referral court must not conduct an

    intricate or detailed evidentiary inquiry into whether the claims are time-

    barred. The Court held that the referral court’s inquiry on the issue

    limitation must remain restricted only to determining whether the Section

    11(6) petition itself has been filed within the prescribed period of three

    years, and that the question as to whether the substantive claims to be

    arbitrated are barred by limitation is ordinarily a matter to be determined

    by the Arbitral Tribunal and not by the referral court. The power to reject

    claims as ex facie dead claims, as contemplated in Arif Azim Company

    Ltd. (supra), is therefore an exceptional and narrow jurisdiction to be

    exercised only in the most glaring and manifest cases where the claims are

    hopelessly and undeniably time-barred on the face of the record, without

    any factual inquiry whatsoever.

    26. The parties have advanced diametrically opposed contentions on the

    question of limitation. The Petitioner contends that Article 113 of the

    Limitation Act, 1963 governs its claims, inasmuch as the right to sue

    accrues only upon repudiation or unequivocal refusal of a demand, and

    that the Respondent’s continuing occupation of the Petitioner’s stockyard

    and continued non-refund of the security deposit constitute a continuing
    14

    wrong giving rise to a fresh cause of action during each period 2026:CHC-OS:253
    of

    subsistence of the alleged default. The Respondent, on the other hand,

    contends that Article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963, being the residuary

    provision applicable to applications, as distinct from suits, governs a

    petition under Section 11(6), and that the cause of action had irrevocably

    crystallised on 27.12.2013 when the Respondent communicated the

    outstanding dues, appropriated the security deposit, and warned of

    initiation of winding up proceedings, thereby setting limitation in motion

    from that date, rendering the present petition filed after nearly nine years

    hopelessly time-barred. The Respondent further contends that the

    Petitioner’s reliance upon the communication dated 29.11.2021 regarding

    the proposed e-auction as constituting a fresh accrual of the right to

    invoke arbitration is wholly untenable, in as much as no subsequent

    communication can resurrect a right to invoke arbitrate that had long

    since become time-barred.

    27. Considering the rival contention of the parties, this Court is of the

    considered view that it is neither necessary nor appropriate at this stage,

    to resolve this contest between applicability Article 113 and Article 137 of

    the Limitation Act, or to determine whether the cause of action arose in

    2013 or 2022. These are precisely the kinds of questions, involving a

    detailed examination of the facts, the conduct of the parties, the nature of

    the wrong alleged, and the applicable provision of the Limitation Act, that

    the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Krish Spinning (supra) and Aslam Ismail

    Kan (supra) has held to be beyond the jurisdiction of the referral court

    under Section 11 and within the exclusive domain of the learned Arbitral

    Tribunal. The determination as to which Article of the Limitation Act
    15
    2026:CHC-OS:253
    applies, when the right to sue or the right to apply accrued, whether the

    wrong is a continuing one, and whether the claims are within or beyond

    limitation, are all quintessentially mixed questions of law and fact, as

    recognised by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Ramesh B. Desai (supra),

    and must be decided by the learned Arbitral Tribunal upon affording full

    opportunity of hearing to both parties and upon examining the evidence on

    record.

    28. The Respondent has also placed reliance upon B and T AG (supra), to

    contend that whether particular facts constitute a cause of action must be

    determined with reference to the substance of the matter and the specific

    facts of each case. This Court accepts the said proposition as a correct

    statement of law. However, the application of this principle to the facts of

    the present case leads not to the conclusion urged by the Respondent, but

    rather to the opposite one: precisely because the determination of when

    the cause of action arose requires a substantive, fact specific inquiry into

    the communications exchange between the parties, the conduct of the

    Respondent in continuing occupation of the Petitioner’s stockyard, the non

    refund of the security deposit, and the question of whether the wrong is

    continuing or completed, such an inquiry cannot be undertaken by this

    Court while exercising limited jurisdiction under Section 11 of the Act. The

    principle laid down in B and T AG (supra) reinforces, rather than

    undermines, the conclusion that all questions of limitation in the present

    case must be referred to and decided by the learned Arbitral Tribunal.

    29. In the present case, the arbitration clause was invoked vide letter dated

    18.03.2022, and the present petition has been filed within a period of three

    years therefrom. Accordingly, the Respondent’s contention on limitation
    16
    2026:CHC-OS:253
    must be rejected both on the ground that the Section 11(6) petition has

    itself been filed within the prescribed period of limitation, and on the

    ground that the question of limitation of the underlying claims, if at all

    arising, falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the learned Arbitral

    Tribunal in view of the settled legal position in Krish Spinning (supra) and

    Aslam Ismail Kan (supra).

    30. Having regard to the foregoing analysis, this Court is of the considered

    view that: (i) a valid and binding arbitration agreement exists between the

    parties under Clauses 20 and 21.1 of the agreement dated 18.06.2010; (ii)

    the arbitration clause has been duly invoked by the Petitioner in

    accordance with Section 21 of the Act; (iii) the present petition has been

    filed within the period of limitation prescribed under Article 137 of the

    Limitation Act, 1963; (iv) the claims of the Petitioner cannot be said to be

    ex facie dead or hopelessly barred by limitation so as to warrant refusal of

    reference; and (vi) the Respondent’s contention that no arbitrable dispute

    survives by reason of an alleged admission of debt raises mixed question of

    law and fact which fall entirely within the adjudicatory domain of the

    Arbitral Tribunal and cannot be decided by this Court at the referral stage.

    In view of the above, and in consonance with the settled pro-arbitration

    mandate of the Act as reinforced by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in B and T

    AG (supra), and the existence only test firmly established in Krish

    Spinning (supra) and Aslam Ismail Kan (supra), this Court finds that the

    present petition deserves to be allowed and that an Arbitrator ought to be

    appointed to adjudicate the disputes between the parties.
    17

    2026:CHC-OS:253

    31. Accordingly, this Court appoints Mr. Justice Md. Nizamuddin (Retd.), as

    the Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate all disputes and differences between the

    parties arising out of and in relation to the agreement dated 18.06.2010.

    32. The appointment shall be subject to compliance with the disclosure

    requirements under Section 12 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act,

    1996. The learned Arbitrator shall be entitled to fix remuneration in

    accordance with the Fourth Schedule to the Act.

    33. The learned Arbitrator shall be at liberty to consider and decide all

    objections raised by the parties, including the question of limitation of

    individual claims and any question of maintainability, as preliminary

    issues, after affording full opportunity of hearing to all parties. All

    questions on merits are expressly left open. The arbitral proceedings shall

    be conducted strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration

    and Conciliation Act, 1996.

    34. With the aforesaid directions, the present petition stands allowed.

                                   .                      (GAURANG KANTH, J.)
    
    
    SAKIL AMED P.A.
     



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