Mr. Divyendu Sorayan, Advocate v. M/S SAI VENKATESHWARA ENTERPRISES THROUGH ITS PROPRIETOR/AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY

M/S SAI VENKATESHWARA ENTERPRISES THROUGH ITS PROPRIETOR/AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY MR. ATTHAPURAM AKSHAY REDDY .....Respondent Through: None CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MANMEET PRITAM SINGH ARORA O R D E R 07.04.2025 This petition has been filed under Section 11 of the Arbitration and % 1. Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘Act of 1996’) seeking appointment of a Arbitral tribunal comprising of a Sole Arbitrator, to adjudicate the disputes between the parties. 2. It is stated in the petition that disputes between the parties arising out of Distributorship/Dealership Agreement dated 22.01.2021. It is stated that the said agreement contains an Arbitration Agreement at Clause 21, which reads as under: “21. DISPUTE RESOLUTION 21.1 Any and all disputes, controversies and conflicts ("Disputes") arising out of this Agreement between the Parties or arising out of or relating to or in connection with this Agreement and the performance or non-performance of the rights and obligations set forth herein or the breach, termination or invalidity thereof shall be referred to the business head of each party to be settled jointly and amicably within 30 days after written notice of such Dispute has been given by one party to ARB.P. 1810/2024 Page 1 of 4 This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/04/2025 at 12:39:15 the other party. 21.2 Failing an amicable settlement of any Dispute pursuant to the above within the specified 30 days period, such Dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement, shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 or any statutory amendment thereof. The place of arbitration shall be Delhi, India and the language used in the arbitral proceedings shall be English. 21.3 The arbitral tribunal shall consist of one arbitrator to be nominated and appointed by the Company, to which the Authorized Dealer/Distributor hereby agrees. The authority of the Company to appoint the arbitrator and the arbitrator so appointed shall not be objected to or challenged by the Authorized Dealer/ Distributor in any manner whatsoever. 21.4 The arbitral award and decision by the arbitral tribunal shall be in writing and shall be final, binding and incontestable and shall be enforceable in any court of competent jurisdiction. 21.5 Pending the submission to arbitration and thereafter until the tribunal renders its award or decision, the Parties shall, except in the event of termination of this Agreement or in the event that injunctive or other equitable relief is granted under this Clause continue to perform their obligations under this Agreement.” (Emphasis Supplied)

3. A Perusal of the aforenoted arbitration agreement makes it clear that under the said agreement exclusive right of appointment of arbitrator vests with respondent and the same is impermissible in view of the decisions of the Supreme Court in TRF Limited v. Energo Engineering Projects Limited1 and Perkins Eastman Architects DPC & Anr. v. HSCC (India) Limited2 and therefore, the said clause of arbitration agreement would cease to operate. 4. It is stated that the petitioner issued a notice dated 14.05.2024 invoking the arbitration and the same was served upon respondent through Registered Post, E-mail and WhatsApp message however, respondent failed