Bijadhar Ram vs Rajkaran Singh

Agarwala, J.—The parties to this application carried on the business of Arhatdars in partnership at Gaya. Disputes having arisen between them, they by agreement referred to arbitrators without the intervention of the Court the task of settling their accounts. The arbitrators have made an award which is admittedly incomplete.

The present petitioner therefore objected to the filing of the award. His objection has been overruled on the ground that the part of the matter in dispute which has been dealt with by the arbitrators is separable from the part which is not dealt with and that the arbitrators can decide the latter portion subsequently.

It is in the first place difficult to under, stand how an award in a case like this which does not deal with the whole subject matter of the dispute can be separated from portions which have not been dealt with at all. But the petition must succeed on another ground. Under Para. 21 of Schedule 2, Civil P.C., the Court is directed to file an award where it is satisfied that the matter was referred to arbitration and that an award has been made thereon and where no ground such as is mentioned or referred to in Para. 14 or 15 is proved.

One of the grounds mentioned in Para. 14 is where the award has left undetermined any of the matters referred to arbitration. As I have said, there is no dispute that the arbitrators in the present case have left undetermined part of the matter referred to arbitration.

The award therefore cannot be filed and the order of the Court below is set aside.

There will be no order for costs in this application as the petitioner does not appear to have raised this objection before the arbitrators themselves.