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2013 (5) TMI 401 - SC - Companies LawArbitration agreement - whether the petition is liable to be dismissed on the ground of limitation as it raises dead claims? - powers of Chief Justice or the designated Judge to decided the question on limitation - Held that:- A bare perusal of the observations made by this Court in judgment in SBP & Co. (2005 (10) TMI 495 - SUPREME COURT) makes it clear that the Chief Justice or the designated Judge can also decide whether the claim was dead one or a long-barred claim. But it is not imperative for the Chief Justice or his designate to decide the questions at the threshold. It can be left to be decided by the Arbitral Tribunal. The observations made in SBP & Co. (supra) were explained by this Court in Indian Oil Co. Ltd. (2013 (5) TMI 375 - SUPREME COURT) These observations make it clear that it is optional for the Chief Justice or his designate to decide whether the claim is dead (long-barred). The Chief Justice or his designate would do so only when the claim is evidently and patently a long time-barred claim. The claim could be said to be patently long time-barred, if the contractor makes it a decade or so after completion of the work without referring to any acknowledgment of a liability or other factors that kept the claim alive in law. On the other hand, if the contractor makes a claim, which is slightly beyond the period of three years of completing the work say within five years of completion, the Court will not enter into disputed questions of fact as to whether the claim was barred by limitation or not. In the present case, there is a dispute as to whether the repeated notices sent by the petitioner to the respondents were ever received. There are further disputes (even if the notices were received by ONGC) as to whether they were actually received in the correct section of ONGC. These are matters of evidence which are normally best left to be decided by the Arbitral Tribunal. Thus it would be appropriate for this Court to constitute the entire Arbitral Tribunal in exercise of my powers under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. In exercise of the aforesaid powers, Justice V.N. Khare, Former Chief Justice of India as the Chairman and Justice D.P. Wadhwa and Justice S.N. Variava, former Judges of this Court are nomimated as Arbitrators to adjudicate the disputes that have arisen between the parties. The arbitrators shall fix their own remuneration in consultation with the parties.
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