Adwel Advertising Service & Anr v. South Delhi Municipal Corporation

NAVIN CHAWLA, J DECEMBER 01, 2017/sd

Page 1 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + Reserved on: 22nd November, 2017 Date of decision: 1st December, 2017 ADWEL ADVERTISING SERVICE & ANR. ..... Petitioners Through Mr.P.V.Kapur, Sr. Adv. with Mr.Sandeep Grover, Mr.Vimal Nagrath, Ms.Pankhuri Bhardwaj, Ms.Kaveri Gupta, Advs. versus SOUTH DELHI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION ..... Respondent Through Mr.Sanjay Poddar, Sr. Adv. with Mr.Gaurang Kanth, Mr.Govind Kumar, Mr.Shivam Goel, Advs. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE NAVIN CHAWLA 1. This petition under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') challenges the Arbitral Award dated 22nd May, 2017 passed by the Sole Arbitrator in Arbitration Case No. 15/2011. 2. The dispute between the parties relate to award of work of construction, maintenance and operation of toilet blocks. The respondent had issued letters of award of toilet sites in favour of the petitioners with Page 2 respect to 9 (nine) sites, the details of which have been given by the petitioner as under:- S.No. Site No. Monthly Licence Fee (Rs.) Allotment Date Hand-over Date 2,87,000/- 12.12.2007 22.12.2007 3,78,500/- 12.12.2007 02.01.2008 2,15,500/- 12.12.2007 31.12.2007 1,63,000/- 12.12.2007 31.12.2007 2,35,500/- 12.12.2007 02.01.2008 2,88,500/- 12.12.2007 22.12.2007 2,35,500/- 12.12.2007 02.01.2008 1,66,500/- 12.12.2007 02.01.2008 4,44,500/- 12.12.2007 31.12.2007 3. Further sites were allotted to the petitioners, the details of which have been given by the petitioners as under:- S.No. Site No. Monthly Licence Fee (Rs.) Cash Security Deposit (Rs.) Allotment Date 1,72,500/- 5,17,500/- 08.11.2007 1,11,500/- 3,34,500/- 08.11.2007 2,43,000/- 7,29,000/- 08.11.2007 Page 3 4. After the expiry of the contractual period, the following sites were allotted to the petitioners, the details whereof have been provided by the petitioners as under:- S.No. Site No. Monthly Licence Fee (Rs.) Allotment Date 3,15,000/- 15.07.2009 2,37,050/- 15.07.2009 3,17,350/- 15.07.2009 2,59,050/- 15.07.2009 1,83,150/- 15.07.2009 5. The petitioners have stated that certain other sites were also allotted in their favour, the details of which are not relevant for the purpose of the adjudication of the present petition as they were not part of the present reference to arbitrator in Arbitration Case No.15/2011. 6. It may be suffice here to say that the respondent issued demand letters calling upon the petitioners to pay the licence fee as agreed in the allotment letters, while the petitioners kept disputing the same. Eventually, the disputes having arisen between the parties, the same were referred to Arbitration by this Court. Page 4 7. The Arbitrator has passed the impugned Award allowing certain claims of the petitioners while disallowing a few others. 8. The challenge raised before me is confined to adjudication of claim Nos. 6 and 9 as also the counter claim Nos. 1 and 4 in the impugned Award. 9. Claim No. 6 was a claim of refund of Rs.1,04,62,004/- along with interest thereon @ 24% per annum. Claim No. 9 was a challenge to the termination notice issued by the respondent with respect to the sites that had been allotted to the petitioners on 15.07.2009. It was alleged that as no amount was due and payable by the petitioners to the respondent, in fact, certain amounts were recoverable from the respondent, the termination was bad and the petitioners were entitled to damages for such illegal termination. Here again, the challenge is to the finding of the Sole Arbitrator that the amount of Rs.1,04,62,004/- cannot be adjusted against the licence fee demanded by the respondent and without such adjustment, the petitioners were in default of payment of the licence fee and consequently, the termination of the award of sites in favour of the petitioners was legal and justified. Page 5 10. It is the case of the petitioners that the respondent had floated a tender for granting advertisement rights on mobile vans. The petitioners, being successful, had deposited