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Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. v. M/s. Applied Electronics Ltd.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 11584 of 2016)Decided 24 Nov 2016
Civil Appeal No. 11584 of 2016
Justice Dipak Misra · Justice Amitava Roy

Background

This is a referral order, not a final judgment. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. appealed against a Delhi High Court order on whether a cross-objection can be maintained in an arbitration appeal. The question was whether the Code of Civil Procedure, and in particular a cross-objection under Order XLI Rule 22, applies to an appeal under Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

Decision Breakdown

This is a referral order, not a final judgment. The two-Judge Bench reviewed conflicting precedents and said it was unable to follow the earlier two-Judge Bench view in ITI Ltd. It held that the decision deserved to be reconsidered by a larger Bench and directed that the papers be placed before the Chief Justice of India to constitute one. The interim order of status quo was to continue.

Lesson Learnt

There is no final ruling yet on whether the Code of Civil Procedure and cross-objections apply to Section 37 arbitration appeals. The question awaits a larger Bench.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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