- (1.) THE short point involved in this First Appeal From Order is whether in view of the arbitration clause 26.4 contained in the agreement providing Mumbai to be the place of arbitration and that arbitration shall be subject to jurisdiction of the Courts at Mumbai only, the Jurisdiction of the Courts at Jhansi to entertain an application for interim measure under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter for short 'Act') stand excluded.
(2.) THE appellant moved an application under Section 9 of the Act before the District Judge, Jhansi seeking interim protection that the respondents be restrained from en-cashing the bank guarantees furnished by the appellant as securities for the purposes of civil contract awarded to be carried out at Jhansi. THE said application which was registered as Misc. Case No. 31 of 2009 after notice to the other side, was disposed of by the order impugned with the direction that the Court at Jhansi has no jurisdiction in view of the arbitration clause 26.4 of the contract agreement and therefore, the appellant may prefer the application before the principal Court at Mumbai. Heard Sri A.K. Gupta and Sri Lohia, learned counsel in support of this appeal and perused the record. The submission of the learned counsel for the appellant is that irrespective of the jurisdiction conferred upon the Mumbai Courts by the agreement, the application for interim protection under Section 9 of the Act is maintainable even at Jhansi where at least part of the cause of action had arisen.
(3.) TO test the above submission let us first examine the arbitration clause 26.4 of the agreement, the relevant part of which is reproduced below: "The venue of arbitration shall be Mumbai and the language of arbitration shall be English. The arbitration shall subject to jurisdiction of the Courts at Mumbai only". This clause not only provides that Mumbai shall be the place of arbitration but also that the Courts at Mumbai alone shall have jurisdiction in respect to arbitration between the parties. Admittedly vide clause 26.4 of the agreement all disputes concerning arbitration between the parties have been subjected to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Mumbai only. It is a recognised principle of law that whenever there is a specific clause in the agreement conferring jurisdiction on particular Court to decide the matter then it automatically ousts the jurisdiction of the other Court. Therefore, in the instant case the jurisdiction of any other Court other than of Courts at Mumbai in respect to arbitration stand excluded and arbitration or any proceedings in relation thereto are supposed to be maintained in the Courts at Mumbai only.;