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NON-REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

ARBITRATION PETITION NO. 23 OF 2015

PURPLE INDIA HOLDINGS LTD. …PETITIONER

VERSUS

DRILLING & OFFSHORE PTE. LTD.  …RESPONDENT

O  R  D  E  R

T.S. THAKUR, CJI.

1. In this petition under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration  

and Conciliation Act, 1996 the respondent has not appeared  

to  contest  the  prayer  for  appointment  of  an  arbitrator  in  

terms of the arbitration clause found in Engagement Letter  

dated 24th October, 2013.  The Clause reads as under:

“12.  Jurisdiction  &  Dispute  Resolution:   This  Engagement  Letter  shall  be  governed  by  and   construed in accordance with the laws of India.  The   parties  agree that  any legal  action or  proceedings   arising out of or in connection with this Engagement   Letter may be brought only in the Court of Mumbai.

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Any and all  disputes,  controversies  or  claims  (the  “Dispute”) arising out of or in connection with this   Engagement Letter, including any Dispute regarding   the  validity,  interpretation,  implementation  or   alleged breach of any provision of this Engagement   Letter  shall  be  settled  amicably  by  mutual   consensus,  failing  which  by  arbitration  to  be  conducted in accordance with  the provision of  the   Indian  Arbitration  and  Conciliation  Act,  1996,  as   amended (the “Arbitration Act”).  Arbitration shall   be held in Mumbai, India.

The Company shall appoint one arbitrator and Purple   shall appoint one arbitrator and the two arbitrators   shall appoint the third or the presiding arbitrator.  In   the  event  that  Purple  or  the  Company  fails  to   appoint  an  arbitrator4  or  the  arbitrators  fail  to   appoint the third arbitrator as provided herein, such   arbitrator(s) shall  be appointed in accordance with   the Arbitration Act.  The arbitration proceedings shall   be conducted and the award shall be rendered in the   English  language.   The  award  rendered  by  the   arbitrator or arbitrators shall be final, conclusive and  binding on all parties to this Engagement Letter and  shall  be  subject  to  enforcement  in  any  court  of   competent  jurisdiction.   Each  party  shall  bear  the  cost of preparing and presenting its case, and the   cost of the arbitration, including fees and expenses   of  the  arbitrators,  shall  be  shared  equally  by  the  parties,  unless  the  award  otherwise  provides.   Subject  to  the  foregoing  arbitration  provision,  the   court  of  Mumbai  shall  have  exclusive  jurisdiction   with respect to any dispute.”

2. The  petitioner’s  case  is  that  by  letter  dated  28th  

January, 2015 the respondent was called upon to name an  

Arbitrator for adjudication of the disputes that have arisen  

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between  them  but  the  respondent  has  failed  to  do  the  

needful, leaving no alternative for the petitioner except to  

seek the appointment of an Arbitrator in terms of Section  

11(6) of the Act from this Court.  

3. We have heard learned counsel for the petitioner. The  

averments made in the petition must, in the absence of any  

counter from the respondent, be taken to be correct at least  

for the purposes of deciding whether the matter ought to be  

referred  to  an  Arbitrator.   This  is  especially  so  when the  

averments  are  supported  by  an  affidavit  filed  by  the  

petitioner.   In  that  view,  therefore,  we see  no  reason  to  

decline the prayer for appointment of an Arbitrator made by  

the petitioner.  We, accordingly, appoint Hon’ble Mr. Justice  

H.S. Bedi, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India as  

the sole Arbitrator to adjudicate upon the disputes that have  

arisen between the parties. The Arbitrator shall issue notices  

to the parties in connection with the arbitral proceedings. He  

is left free to determine his fee. We make it clear that we  

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have expressed no opinion on the merits of the case which  

aspect is left open for the parties to urge before the worthy  

Arbitrator.  No costs.    

.…………….……………….CJI        [T.S. Thakur]

..…………………….………….J.        [R. Banumathi]

...………………..…….……….J.        [Uday Umesh Lalit]

New Delhi; March 30, 2016

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