- (1.) The appellant herein is a Society registered under the Madhya Pradesh Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"). On 17-12-1993 and 8-2-1994, the appellant herein entered into agreements with the General Manager, Government Milk Scheme, Nagpur/Akola for supply of milk. These agreements were executed at Nagpur. Condition No. 19 of the said agreements provided that the disputes between the parties shall be referred to an arbitrator, i.e. the Dairy Development Commissioner, Bombay, Maharashtra. Subsequently, the appellant-Society moved an application under Section 33 of the Arbitration Act, 1940 for quashing Condition No. 19 whereby the arbitration was to be done by the Dairy Development Commissioner, Bombay, Maharashtra. The learned District Judge was of the opinion that in view of Section 64 of the Act, Condition No. 19 of the agreement was erroneous and, therefore, the same was set aside and the application was allowed. Aggrieved, the respondents filed an appeal before the High Court. The High Court was, inter alia, of the view that since the agreements were entered into beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the appellant, that is outside the State of Madhya Pradesh, Section 64 of the Act was inapplicable and, therefore, the High Court set aside the order of the learned District Judge and allowed the appeal. It is against the said judgment, the appellant is in appeal before us.
(2.) Learned counsel appearing for the appellant urged that the view taken by the High Court was erroneous. We do not find any merit in this contention.
(3.) It is not disputed that the agreements were entered into and executed at Nagpur which is outside the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Madhya Pradesh. Section 1 of the Act provides that the provisions of the Act would be applicable to the whole of Madhya Pradesh. Since the operation of the Act is intra-State and cannot be applied beyond the territory of the State of Madhya Pradesh, it must be held that Section 64 of the Act is not applicable.;