ASIA PUBLISHING HOUSE Vs. JOHN WILEY AND SONS, INC.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal against an order passed in Chambers by Mr. Justice K. K. Desai on October 10, 1966, dismissing a petition filed by the appellants to set aside an award made on May 4, 1966, by Mr. P. P. Khambatta, a senior advocate of this Court.

(2.) THE circumstances under which the appeal arises may be briefly stated as follows; The appellants are the Asia Publishing House and P. S. Jayasinghe. Appellant No. 1 is merely the trade name of appellant No. 2 who is the sole proprietor of the business of Asia Publishing House. The respondents John Wiley and Sons, Inc. are a corporation registered in the State of New York in the United States of America. They carry on the business of publishers and they have appeared throughout by a constituted attorney in all these proceedings.

(3.) CONSEQUENT upon the termination of the agreement Wileys granted similar rights to another publisher Toppan and Co. of Japan which act also the appellants had alleged was illegal and in breach of the agreement between the parties. Clause 15 of the agreement provided that in case of any difference between the publishers and the proprietors relating to the agreement or any other matter arising therefrom or incidental thereto the same 'shall be submitted for the arbitration of two persons (one to be named by each of the parties hereto) or their umpire and the publishers and the proprietors shall be bound by the decision of the arbitration award'. This clause was implemented by the parties when the termination of the agreement was disputed on behalf of the appellants and a reference was made in the first instance to the arbitration of two persons Mr. S. N. Desai and Mr. N, R. Modi. It appears that these two arbitrators were, though not entirely unversed in law, unable to decide certain questions of law which had been raised before them and they, therefore, had stated a case and formulated certain questions which they referred to the Court. The stated case came up for hearing before Mr. Justice Mody and at the hearing before the learned Judge a further agreement of reference to arbitration was entered into. That agreement at exh. C is dated March 23, 1965 and it is out of that agreement that this appeal has arisen. In the present agreement of reference to arbitration dated March 23, 1965, first reference to arbitration has been mentioned and it has been recited that by an order passed by this Court on March 23, 1965, the said arbitration has been revoked. A fresh arbitrator has been appointed namely Mr. P. P. Khambatta, Advocate, as the sole arbitrator 'to determine the dispute between the parties'. The terms of reference are stated in para. 2 of this agreement dated March 23, 1965, which we shall presently refer to separately. On May 4, 1966, Mr. Khambatta after several hearings before him delivered his award merely answering the questions referred. By the award the arbitrator held that the appellants were liable to pay to Wileys a sum. of Rs. 1,49,679.48 and each party was ordered to bear its own costs.