Altamas Kabir, J. - (1.) This Transfer Petition under Article 139A(2) of the Constitution of India read with the relevant provisions of the Supreme Court Rules and Section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure has been filed by Balaji Coke Industries Pvt. Ltd. for transfer of Arbitration Application No.1 of 2008, titled M/s Maa Bhagwati Coke (Guj) Pvt. Ltd. vs. Balaji Coke Industry Pvt. Ltd., pending in the Court of the Principal Senior Civil Judge at Bhavnagar (Gujarat) to the Calcutta High Court.
(2.) Briefly stated, the facts are that the Petitioner Company registered under the Companies Act and having its registered office at 12, Ho-Chi Minh Sarani, Flat 2B, Second Floor, Kolkata, is carrying on business in the trade of coking coal. The Respondent, which is engaged in the business of processing coking coal into hard coke, requires coking coal as raw material to be used in its processing unit for transformation into met coke (hard coke). On 29th April, 2005, the Petitioner Company entered into an agreement with the Respondent Company to Suppl ly 15,000 Metric Tonnes of coking coal of Indonesian Origin. The agreement to sell provided that the cargo would be sold to the Respondent on High Seas basis. The said agreement was executed in Kolkata within the jurisdiction of the Calcutta High Court.
(3.) Clause 11 of the aforesaid agreement contains an Arbitration Clause which reads as under :- "In case of any dispute or difference arising between the parties hereto or any claim or thing herein contained or the construction thereof or as to any matter in any way connected with or arising out of these presents or the operation thereof or the rights, duties or liabilities of either party thereof, then and in every such case the matter, differences or disputes shall be referred to an arbitrator in Kolkata, West Bengal, India in accordance with and subject to the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, or any other enactment or statutory modifications thereof for the time being in force. The place of arbitration shall be Kolkata." [Emphasis Suppl lied) Pursuant to the aforesaid agreement dated 29th April, 2005, the parties entered into a specific High Seas Sale Agreement on 7th May, 2005, wherein it was specified that the contracted coal would be Suppl lied to the Respondent from a vessel named MV Gulf Ranger. The total sale consideration for the consignment was mentioned as Rs.8,11,80,000/-. Clause 14 of the said High Seas Sale Agreement provided that the sale contract would be subject to Kolkata jurisdiction.;