TMI Blog1988 (7) TMI 409X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... yment and was duly paid a sum of ₹ 23,74,001 for the work done by him including the extra work. Thereafter, no amount was due to the respondent, according to the appellant, and he did not raise any claim whatsoever before the Department. On 28th September, 1976 the last payment was alleged to have been made by the respondent. On 30th October, 1976 the last bill was prepared which was nil one. The respondent, thereafter, raised a claim and gave notice for appointment of an arbitrator. Consequently, the Chief Engineer appointed one Shri A.N. Nanda as the arbitrator in terms of the arbitration clause. However, on the application of the respondent the learned Subordinate Judge removed Shri A.N Nanda and appointed one Shri B. Patnaik as the arbitrator. It may be mentioned that the application was made for removal of the arbitrator Shri B. Patnaik but the same was ultimately dismissed. Before the arbitrator, the respondent filed the claim raising some claims which, according to the appellant, were fictitious and baseless. These claims were for the alleged extra work in respect of which the decision of the Superintending Engineer under clause 11 of the contract was final and the sam ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ication should not be set at naught or examination of that question kept at bay on the plea that the point is pending determination by a larger Bench of this Court. Even if it is held ultimately that the unreasoned award per se is bad, it is not sure whether such a decision would upset all the awards in this country which have not been challenged so far. Certainly, in the exercise of our discretion under Article 136 of the Constitution and in view of the facts and circumstances of this case, we would not be justified in allowing the party to further prolong or upset adjudication of old and stale disputes. In that view of the matter, we think that the pendency of this point before the larger Bench should not postpone the adjudication and disposal of this appeal in the facts of this case. The law as it stands today is that award without reasons are not bad per se. Indeed, an award can be set aside only on the ground of misconduct or on an error of law apparent on the face of the award. This is the state of law as it is today and in that context the contention that the award being an unreasoned one is per se bad, has no place on this aspect as the law is now. This contention is rej ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e contractor shall within 7 days intimate the rate which it is his intention to charge for such class of work and if the Engineer- in-charge does not agree to this rate he shall by notice in writing be at liberty to cancel his order to carry out such class of work and arrange to carry such class of work and arrange to carry out in such manner as he may consider advisable. No deviation from the specification stipulated in the contract or additional items of work shall ordinarily be carried by the contractor and should any altered, additional or substituted work be carried out by him unless the rates of the substituted, altered or additional items have been approved as fixed in writing by the Engineer-in-charge. The contractor shall be bound to submit his claim for any additional work done during any month or before the 15th day of the following months accompanied by the copy of the order in writing of the Engineer-in-Charge for the additional work and that the contractor shall not be entitled to any payment in respect of such additional work if he fails to submit his claim within the aforesaid period. Provided it always that if the contractor shall commence work or incur any e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iginal contract work, the decision of the Superintending Engineer of the Circle would be final. The points upon which the arbitrator in the instant case has adjudicated are not those which are excepted or covered by Clause 11 of the agreement. In that view of the matter, this clause has no application in the instant controversy. Our attention was drawn to certain observations of this Court in Bombay Housing Board (Now the Maharashtra Housing Board) v. Karbhase Naik Co., Sholapur, s [1975] 3 SCR 407. There in view of clause 14 of the said contract, it was open to the respondent to make claim on the basis of the rates quoted. There, Clause 14 was more or less identical to Clause 11 in the present case. This particular contention, however, did not arise in that case. The Court held that the respondent there being contractor, was not bound to carry out additional or altered work and there was no reply to the notice stating the rates intended to be charged and the respondent there was not free to commence and complete the work on the basis that since the rates quoted were not accepted, it would be paid at such rates to be fixed by the Engineer-in-charge and that if it was dissatisf ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ny additional work was done and if so, the extent of such work. In the aforesaid view of the matter it is not possible to hold that in view of nature of instant dispute, the matters at issue were not excluded and the arbitrator did not commit any wrong in proceeding with the arbitration. It was next contended that an amount of ₹ 15,23,657 has been granted for additional work over and above the payment of ₹ 23,74,001 and this was disproportionately high and the award for this amount was per se bad. It is well- settled that when the parties choose their own arbitrator to be the judge in dispute between them, they cannot, when the award is good on the face of it, object to the decision either upon law or on facts. Therefore, when arbitrator commits a mistake either in law or in fact in determining the matters referred to him, where such mistake does not appear on the face of the award and the documents appended to or incorporated so as to form part of it, the award will neither be remitted nor set aside. The law on this point is well-settled. See in this connection the observations of this Court in Union of lndia v. Bungo Steel Furniture P. Ltd., [1967] 1 SCR 324 and Al ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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