R. F. Nariman, J. - (1.) Civil APPEAL NO. 5384 OF 2019 (Arising out of SLP (C) No. 22099 of 2018)Leave granted.
(2.) The brief facts of the present appeal are as follows:
(3.) A contract dated 07.02.2006 was entered into between the appellant and the respondent. It is sufficient to state, for the purpose of this case, that insofar as the dispute resolution is concerned, the arbitration clause referred the parties to the arbitration of three learned arbitrators - one to be appointed by each party and the third arbitrator to be appointed by the two arbitrators so appointed. The aforesaid contract contained paragraph 5 which reads as follows: "5. The parties are desirous that the remuneration and other expenses payable to the Arbitrators as per arbitration clause for referring the dispute between the parties arising out of the said Contract to the Arbitral Tribunal for resolution in accordance with the procedure laid down therein, shall be as follows:I. That the maximum limit for fee payable to each Arbitrator per day shall be Rs.5000/- subject to a maximum of Rs.1.5 lakh per case.II That each Arbitrator shall be paid a reading fees of Rs.6000/- per case.III That each Arbitrator shall be paid Rs.5000/- by way of secretarial assistant per case.IV. That each Arbitrator shall be paid Rs.6000/- per case towards incidental charges like telephone, FAX, postage etc.V. That other expenses based on actual against presentation of bills, shall also be reimbursed to each Arbitrator subject to the following ceiling (applicable for the days of hearing only)(a) Travelling expenses - Economy class (By Air), First class AC (By train) and AC car (By road).(b) Lodging and boarding - Rs.8000/- per day in Metro cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai & Kolkata), Rs.5000/- per day in other cities OR Rs.2000/- per day if any Arbitrator makes his own arrnagement.(c) Local travel - Rs.700/- per day VI Charges for publishing the Award - Maximum of Rs.10,000/-VII That in exceptional cases, such as cases involving major legal implication/wider ramification/higher financial stakes etc. a special fees structure could be fixed in consultation with the Contractor/Supervisoin consultant and with the specific approval of the Chairman, NHAI before appointment of the Arbitrator.";