Legal Reference Library

The Supreme Court in Mrs. Hema Khattar & ANR. Vs. Shiv Khera has held that When an agreement is terminated by one party alleging breach committed by the other, the arbitration clause still survives and continues to be operative. This is particularly so when the contract is revoked by mutual consent and the arbitration clause is framed in general terms. The Supreme Court referred to earlier decisions in Sundaram Finance Limited and Another vs. T. Thankam (2015) 14 SCC 444, where this Court has held as under:- "8. Once there is an agreement between the parties to refer the disputes or differences arising out of the agreement to arbitration, and in case either party, ignoring the terms of the agreement, approaches the civil court and the other party, in terms of Section 8 of the Arbitration Act, moves the court for referring the parties to arbitration before the first statement on the substance of the dispute is filed, in view of the peremptory language of Section 8 of th...

The tariff fixed in a power purchase agreement (PPA) is not sacrosanct and it could be reviewed by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, which is the statutory authority for fixing tariff under the Electricity Act, the Supreme Court ruled last week in its judgment, Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd vs Tarini Infrastructure Ltd. The state regulatory commission had declared that it had no such power to review. However, the appellate tribunal decided that the commission did have the power.

The benefit of a contract can be assigned but not the burden, for the promisor cannot shift the burden of his obligation without a novation. The Supreme Court has upheld a Madhya Pradesh High Court decision holding that two Indian firms, Sasan Power Ltd and North American Coal Corporation India Pvt Ltd, may conduct arbitration outside India and under a foreign law if there was an agreement to that effect. The Supreme Court has upheld a Madhya Pradesh High Court decision holding that two Indian firms, Sasan Power Ltd and North American Coal Corporation India Pvt Ltd, may conduct arbitration outside India and under a foreign law if there was an agreement to that effect. “We see no reason to interfere with the conclusions recorded by the courts (HC) below. The appeal is, therefore, dismissed with costs,” a bench of Justices J Chelameswar and A M Sapre said while dismissing the plea of Reliance Power-owned Sasan Power Ltd which operates Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) at Singrauli di...

Supreme Court of India Today held that the disputes relating to Trust, trustees and beneficiaries arising out of the Trust Deed and the Trust Act are not capable of being decided by the arbitrator despite existence of arbitration agreement to that effect between the parties. The Bench comprising of Justices J.Chelameswar and Abhay Manohar Sapre was considering the question, whether a clause in a Trust Deed, which provides for resolving the disputes arising between the beneficiaries of the Trust through arbitration, can constitute an “arbitration agreement” within the meaning of Section 2(b) and 2(h) read with Section 7 of the Act and whether the application filed by the respondents under Section 11 of the Act can be held as maintainable? At the outset, the Bench observed that in order to constitute a valid, binding and enforceable arbitration agreement, the requirements contained in Section 7 have to be satisfied strictly. These requirements, apart from others, are (1) there has to be ...

Justice Vaidhyanathan on pointing out that the Supreme Court had held in a plethora of decisions that a financier had a right to resume possession of the goods even if the hire purchase agreement did not contain a specific clause for resumption of possession, directed the police to quash the FIR filed against the bank. As per the case, T Karuppiah of Madurai had obtained a loan of Rs 9 lakh from the HDFC bank in Madurai to buy a car. But, since he had failed to repay the loan, the bank after issuing notice to him, took the car into its custody. Acting on a complaint from Karuppiah that the bank officials had robbed his car, the Kadupatti police booked the bank under section 379 IPC and also asked the bank to surrender the vehicle as it was required for investigation as well as production before the court. This prompted the bank to approach the court seeking to quash the FIR.

The Bombay High Court has ruled that information regarding development plans of a building company can be disclosed by the municipal authorities on an application under the Right to Information Act. In this case, Ferani Hotels Ltd and Nusli Wadia, the two parties had an agreement to develop certain lands in Mumbai. The relationship turned sour and the agreement was terminated, leading to a suit in the high court. Meanwhile, Wadia moved an application before the public information officer of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai seeking details of the architectural plans and reports submitted by the company to the municipal commissioner and his approval. When the information was denied, Wadia moved the state information commissioner, who ordered the release of the information. The company appealed to the high court, arguing that the information sought did not serve any social or public interest, it was only for private interest. Moreover, it would harm its business interest and wo...

2015 STPL(Web) 678 MAD [AIR 2015 MADRAS 73] MADRAS HIGH COURT (TMT. PUSHPA SATHYANARAYANA, J.) NANJACHARY Appellant VERSUS P. CHENNAVEERACHARI AND OTHERS Respondents Second Appeal No. 966 of 2006-Decided on 9-9-2014. Specific Relief Act, 1963, Section 16 - Contract Act, 1872, Section 55 - Agreement to Sell - Time Essence of Contract – Specific Performance - Plaintiff has taken unfair advantage of his position to compel the defendants 1 and 2 to sell the suit property to him - When time is the essence of agreement insofar as the sale price is concerned the delay on the part of the plaintiff in not performing his part of the contract and taking advantage of his own wrong cannot be permitted - When the defendants were in dire need of money, they had proposed to sell the property - In such circumstances, the plaintiff ought to have offered the money at the earliest or else, the purpose is lost - Plaintiff had not established his case that he was ready and willing to perform his part of c...

The state consumer disputes redressal commission has held that a builder or property developer cannot unilaterally terminate a registered agreement between him and the buyer of a flat. Dismissing an appeal by a Pune-based builder, a two-member bench of the commission, headed by S A Kulkarni, also held on June 12 that lopsided agreements favouring the builder more and going against the provisions of the Maharashtra Flat Ownership Act cannot be legally sustained. The matter is related to a community housing scheme developed at Dhanori along the Vishrantwandi Road by Sankalpa Constructions, a partnership firm headed by Prabhakar Bhosale and Vandana Bhosale. The company entered into the position of service provider by undertaking construction activity of small tenements for distribution among members of a particular community. It signed agreements with individual members of the scheme and registered the same.  One of the members, Haribhau J Ghode of Bhairavinagar, who filed a com...

1) Fateh Chand v. Balkishan Dass AIR  1963  SC  1405 2) (Kunwar)  Chiranjit Singh v. Har Swarup AIR 1926 P.C. 1 3) Shree Hanuman Cotton Mills and Others v. Tata  Air  Craft  Limited 1969 (3) SCC 522 4) Delhi  Development  Authority  v.  Grihstrapana  Cooperative  Group Housing Society Ltd. 1995  Supp  (1)  SCC  751 5) V. Lakshmanan v. B.R. Mangalgiri and others (1995) Suppl.  (2)  SCC 33 6) Housing Urban Development Authority and another  v.  Kewal  Krishan Goel  and  others  (1996)  4  SCC  249 7) Videocon  Properties  Ltd.  v.  Dr.  Bhalchandra  Laboratories and others (2004) 3 SCC 711 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA                         CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION                   ...