- (1.) In this petition filed by the petitioner, prayer is made for appointment of an Arbitrator by this Court under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (for short, 'the Act').
(2.) As per the averments made in the petition, in the year 2007, the respondent through its authorised representative approached the petitioner stating that respondent was the absolute, sole and exclusive owner in possession of certain land, description whereof is given in Para-2 of the petition. The respondent showed its interest in developing the said land into some viable commercial or housing project to which the petitioner agreed and both the parties entered into a Collaboration Agreement dated 23.1.2007 whereby the respondent had to provide aforesaid land on which the petitioner, as a developer, had to develop a commercial or housing project. However, with mutual consent, fresh Collaboration Agreement dated 8.3.2007 was entered into in supersession of the earlier agreement. Even this agreement was superseded by third Collaboration Agreement dated 13.6.2011 which was duly executed between the parties and registered with the Sub Registrar, Gurgaon. The respondent also executed a Special Power of Attorney dated 13.6.2011 in respect of the land which is subject matter of the Collaboration Agreement. As per this Collaboration Agreement, the petitioner was to take sanctions/permissions from the various authorities for the establishment of the project. The respondent had also undertaken to add further portions of land, particulars whereof are given in Para-6 of the petition, to become a part of the project. It appears that for some reasons, necessary permissions could not be taken for which the petitioner blames the respondent and, on the other hand, the respondent is finding fault with the petitioner. According to the respondent, since the petitioner has defaulted in obtaining the necessary approvals/permissions and time is the essence of the contract, the respondent terminated the said Collaboration Agreement vide letter dated 16.2.2012. This termination has given rise to the disputes between the parties.
(3.) Clause-30 of the Collaboration Agreement is the arbitration agreement between the parties, which reads as under:- "30. That in the event of any dispute arising between the parties relating to this agreement or any part thereof the same shall be referred to the sole arbitration of an arbitrator mutually appointed by both the parties. Upon the parties failing to agree to the appointment of a sole arbitrator the same shall be appointed through the Court in accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The arbitration shall be held in accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 or any modification or re-enactment thereof for the time being in force. The venue of Arbitration shall be at New Delhi only." As the parties could not mutually agree upon a particular Arbitrator for resolution of their disputes in spite of letters written by the petitioner to the respondent in this behalf, the present petition is filed for appointment of the Arbitrator.;