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M/s Master Tours and Travels v. The Chairman, Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 14620 of 2015)Decided 15 Dec 2015
Civil Appeal No. 14620 of 2015
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Arun Mishra

Background

The appellant, a travel company, had a work order with the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board and had a dispute with the Board that remained unresolved for a long time. Clause 13 of the work order said that any dispute would be referred to the Board's Chief Executive Officer, whose decision would be final. The appellant argued that this clause was in substance an arbitration clause, which would require the dispute to go to an arbitrator.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court did not accept that Clause 13 was an arbitration clause, relying on a three-judge Bench decision in P. Dasaratharama Reddy Complex v. Government of Karnataka (2014). Because the dispute had been pending for a long time, the Court allowed the appellant to place all its disputes before the Chief Executive Officer within four weeks. The CEO must hear the appellant and take a final decision within a further six weeks. The appeal was disposed of with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

A contract clause that says a government officer's decision is "final" is not automatically an arbitration clause. If you have a contract dispute with a public body, read the dispute-resolution clause carefully and act within any time limits it sets.

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

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