High Court · 2025

2. Mr. counsel for t he respondent s. Shobhit Saharia, learned

3. Appellant was appoint ed as dealer for Liquefied Pet roleum Gas at Narendra Nagar, Dist rict Tehri Garhwal. His dealership was t erm inat ed vide order dat ed 08.03.2011. He filed WPMS No. 734 of 2018 challenging t he order, whereby his dealership was t erm inat ed. t he He also sought a direct ion Aut horit ies t he dealership rest ore agreem ent dat ed 01.03.2008 and also t o rest ore his LPG supply. The said writ pet it ion was dism issed vide j udgm ent dat ed 22.03.2018, which is reproduced below: - t o t o “ The pet it ioner has pet it ion before relief( s) : - t his Court t he present writ follow ing t he “ ( i ) . I ssue a writ , order or direct ion in t he nat ure of cert iorar i quashing/ set t ing aside t he im pugned t erm inat ion order dat ed 08.03.2011 passed by respondent no. 1, by which Respondent no. 1 has t erm inat ed t he dealership agreem ent of t he Pet it ioner dat ed 01.03.2008 t he dealership of and has t he t erm inat ed pet it ioner pert aining t o supply of L.P.G. at Narendra Nagar, Dist r ict - Tehri Garhwal. ( i i ) . To issue a writ , order or direct ion in t he nat ure t he respondent no. 1 & 2 t o rest ore t he dealership Agreem ent dat ed 01.03.2008 of t he pet it ioner wit h respondent no. 1. ( i i i ) . To issue a writ , order or direct ion in t he of m andam us com m anding com m anding t he pet it ioner of m andam us nat ure t he respondent no. 1 & 2 t o rest ore t he LPG supply respect of dealership Agreem ent dat ed 01.03.2008 at it s showroom and godown sit uat ed at Narendra Nagar, Dist r ict Tehri Garhwal.” Pet roleum t hat since Corporat ion 2 . The pet it ioner had ent ered int o a cont ract wit h Lim it ed. Hindust an Thereaft er, som e disput e arose bet ween t he part ies. Consequent ly, t he pet it ioner filed a writ pet it ion before t his Court being WPMS No. 1991 of t his Court on 2012, which was dism issed by ground t he agreem ent has an arbit rat ion clause, t he pet it ioner m ust avail t he rem edy under t he Arbit rat ion and Conciliat ion Act . Against t his order, t he pet it ioner filed a special appeal before a Division Bench of t his Court which was also dism issed. This Court has been inform ed t he t his order was again challenged by t hat pet it ioner before t he Hon’ble Apex Court , where t he SLP filed by t he pet it ioner was also dism issed. Meanwhile, t he Arbit rat or i.e. Direct or, Refiner ies cont inued w it h t he pr oceedings in t he m at t er and according t he pet it ioner, proceedings were concluded by t he Arbit rat or but t he Arbit r at or did not give t he award as he reached t he age of service. superannuat ion Thereaft er, subst it ut e arbit rat or was appoint ed. The appoint m ent of t his arbit rat or, however, was challenged by t he pet it ioner by m eans of anot her writ pet it ion being WPMS No. 1391 of 2014, wherein t he newly appoint ed arbit rat or shall not proceed wit h t he case t ill t he next dat e of list ing. t his Court direct ed ret ired t hat t o 3 . The aforesaid wr it pet it ion rem ained pending before t his Court for som e t im e and t hereaft er very convenient ly, t he pet it ioner w it hdrew t he said writ pet it ion on 06.09.2017. 4 . The relief sought by t he pet it ioner by m eans of t he present writ pet it ion ( st at ed above) is a prayer being m ade t oo lat e in t he day and t hat t oo in a writ pet it ion. This cannot be grant ed by t his Court for t he sim ple reason t hat under sub- sect ion ( 2) of Sect ion 14 of t he Arbit rat ion and Conciliat ion Act , t he pet it ioner can pursue t he m at t er before t he “ Court ” as defined under Sect ion 2 ( e) of t he Arbit rat ion and Conciliat ion Act . 5 . I n view of t he above, no int erference is being called for by t his Court in t he m at t er at t his st age. The writ pet it ion st ands dism issed in lim ine.”

3. I n t his int ra- court appeal, appellant has challenged t he dism issal of his writ dat ed pet it ion 22.03.2018. j udgm ent t he From perusal of im pugned 4. j udgm ent , it is revealed t hat appellant had earlier filed WPMS No. 1991 of 2012, challenging t he t erm inat ion order dat ed 08.03.2011, which was dism issed by t here was an holding t he agreem ent arbit rat ion clause bet ween t he t herefore, appellant m ust avail t he rem edy under t he Arbit rat ion and Conciliat ion Act , 1996. t he part ies, t hat

5. Against dism issal of his earlier writ pet it ion, he filed an int ra- court appeal, which was also dism issed, and Hon’ble Apex Court also refused t o int erfere wit h t he dism issal of his writ pet it ion. I t is furt her revealed t hat t he Arbit rat or, i.e. cont inued wit h Direct or, Refineries arbit rat ion proceedings, which were concluded t o superannuat ion of t he Direct or, award could not be given; a subst it ut e Arbit rat or was t hereaft er appoint ed. Appellant challenged t he appoint m ent of subst it ut e Arbit rat or by filing WPMS No. 1391 of 2014. However, t he said writ pet it ion was dism issed as wit hdrawn vide order dat ed 06.09.2017. also,

6. By t he im pugned j udgm ent , relief was denied t o t he appellant by holding t hat he can pursue t he m at t er before t he forum available under t he Arbit rat ion and Conciliat ion Act , 1996.

7. j udgm ent cannot be The view t aken in t he im pugned fault ed. Since t o seek his arbit rat ion proceedings had com m enced and it is not in disput e t hat t here was an Arbit rat ion Clause t he agreem ent bet ween t he part ies, t herefore, appellant t he Arbit rat ion and Conciliat ion Act and t he t he rem edy under Art icle 226 of Const it ut ion would not be available t o him , in t he fact s and circum st ances of t he case. rem edy under Thus, we do not find any reason t o

8. int erfere wit h t he im pugned j udgm ent .

9. Accordingly, t he special appeal fails and is dism issed. ( A sh i sh N a i t h a n i , J.) ( M a n o j K u m a r Ti w a r i , J.)

20.05.2025 Aswal NITI RAJ SINGH ASWAL DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=eacc6757ee7881e933ff8934f07477005a a85f9802a3a08b08d1369512ea30f3, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=44EB54CBF00B7698CB6F10C2CE3 D26F5C22DACF4F4610C1FE58A58531726FBB0, cn=NITI RAJ SINGH ASWAL