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A plot of land was bought by X to develop for housing and commercial offices. The land was to be provided free of encumbrances. However, there are charges on the property. Loans promised to the developer are now being reconsidered. The arbitration is underway, with the prayers including: specific performance of the agreed obligations, a declaration of illegality of unilateral revocation of the contract, a refund of the deposit with interest, an injunction to prevent 3rd party interests being granted, interim relief, and costs of arbitration proceedings. We hope the matter will be concluded soon, since it has been arbitrated for 12 months now. Following this we will write about the outcome.

A contract was awarded to construct a building.  The contract period was 18 months from the date of commencement of work.  The value was to the tune of several crores.  Work commenced by C, but D terminated the contract as work was proceeding very slowly.  The mobilization advance was not paid as also the amount due against the running bill.  This dispute was referred to Arbitration as per the terms of the contract.  We hope to reach a conclusion regarding the eventual claim settlement in approximately 10 sittings.

E and F entered into a barter agreement by which F would supply raw materials required by E for production of consumables. E in turn agreed to disburse an amount equivalent to the unit cost of power prevailing at that time to F. Due to escalation in the power tariff, F claimed the revised power tariff for a limited period as per certain clauses in the contract. This increased tariff is what is now in dispute. The matter is currently in Arbitration.

The Claimant has executed a project awarded to them by the Respondent in 2009.  The contract value was approx Rs. 8 crores.  There is no dispute as far as the Respondents are concerned.

The Claimants invoked the Arbitration Clause to get an additional Rs.1 crore from the Respondents. The Respondents refer to the contract signed by both parties and claim that 100% payment has been made as per the terms of the contract and as such there is no dispute at all.

According to the Respondent, as per the terms of the contract, a joint committee mutually agreed upon by the Claimant and Respondent reviewed all the bills and certified for final payment.  Accordingly, 100% payment was made and the Claimant accepted the same.  As per the terms of the contract, the Claimant should have sent objections, if any, to the final payment received by them giving details, which they did not do.  Hiding these facts, the Claimant approached the Court of Law for invoking the Arbitration Clause for resolving a dispute which does not exist.

Since the Presiding Arbitrator, Justice K. Sampath was appointed by the Court, the Respondents were asked to argue their case before the Arbitral Tribunal. N.C.Ramesh and Mr.D.S.Dharmaseelan are co-arbitrators.

The arbitration is currently in progress.

In the case of B v/s W, the claimant is alleging that the respondent is guilty of misappropriation of School funds, Unparliamentary behaviour and treatment of staff and students alike, and fraud where scholarship money was concerned. The respondent here is the headmistress of the school in question and has been accused of acting ultra vires of her designated powers in some cases and in others, for not performing her designated duties to the best of her abilities.

According to the claimant the misappropriation charge has been imputed on account of the fact that many students (scholarship winning students) have not yet received their scholarship money. The claimant points out that there are discrepancies in the records relating to the Scholarship Disbursement, where students have affixed their signatures (which they are supposed to do only upon actually receiving the money), but on inquiry the students claim not to have signed it or received the money. The students are supposed to affix the date of receipt of the money as well, but in many cases the claimant alleges that no date has been written.

Another instance pointed out by the claimant is that of an entry where a girl’s signature has been scraped off and then replaced by some other signature (which is allegedly the girl’s real signature as opposed to the fake scraped off one). The respondent is also supposedly guilty of Delayed Disbursement of the scholarship money, allegedly holding it for more than 10months at a stretch.

The Claimant has also pointed out numerous transactions that were purportedly committed without his consent (which is ultra vires the scope of powers of the Respondent), even after repeated warnings. The respondent has also been accused of operating a School account exclusively and individually to the respondent’s own whims and fancies. The claimant after repeated requests (via Show-cause notice and subsequent reminders for the same) has apparently not yet received a statement of accounts for the money and its use from that account. This account was opened some 40-50years ago for school purposes only. On account of this fact, the claimant believes he is more than entitled to ask for a detailed account of all money used from the same, as the headmaster/mistress of the school is supposed to render complete accounts of all money used from school accounts and for school purposes.

The respondent has also been accused of unwarranted abuse and numerous cases of dereliction of duty, where the respondent has not facilitated the teachers when requested for help even going so far as to add to their already heavy workloads. The claimant has brought to light many cases where the respondent has allegedly mistreated the staff and the students with abusive and nasty language and comments.

The claimant believes that the respondent is unfit and unworthy to be in the position of headmistress, owing to the fact that the respondent has not performed the said functions with sincerity and honesty. The case is pending judgement and we hope the matter will be settled as quickly as possible.