Qureshi Shaikh Munir vs Javed Qureshi S/O Shahid Ali Qureshi & Ors

Manish Pitale, J

Heard learned counsel for the parties.

By order dated 05th October, 2023, this Court gave specific directions to the respondents while appointing a learned mediator for exploring the possibility of settlement through mediation.

It is pertinent to note that in paragraph no. 2 of the said order, this Court had recorded that while this Court was inclined to grant prayer clause (g) as prayed by the petitioner for appointment of the Court Receiver, certain offers were made on behalf of the respondents to show their bona fides while suggesting that the process of mediation could be undertaken.

While appointing the learned mediator, this Court gave the following directions in the order dated 05th October, 2023.

“8. In view of the observations made hereinabove, it would be necessary to issue appropriate directions to the respondents. Accordingly, the respondents are directed to deposit an amount of Rs. 60 Lakhs with the Prothonotary and Senior Master of this Court within four weeks from today. The respondents are further directed to pay to the petitioner from November 2023 onwards, on or before the seventh day of each month his share (13%) which comes to about Rs.2,50,000/- from the rental amount received under the facility agreement. This would be without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the respondents as regards the disputes between the parties.”

This Court is informed that unfortunately the process of mediation has not resulted in settlement of disputes between the parties.

It is also an admitted position that the respondents have neither deposited the amount of Rs. 60,00,000/- as directed by this Court nor have they paid amount of Rs. 2,50,000/- per month from November 2023 onwards to the petitioner. The learned counsel for respondent Nos. 1 and 2 submits that an application has been filed yesterday in the present proceedings seeking modification of the aforesaid order dated 05th October, 2023, for reducing the said amount of Rs. 2,50,000/- to be paid to the petitioner, in proportion to the expenses. It is further stated that the amount of Rs. 60,00,000/-could not be deposited as per the order dated 05th October, 2023, for the reason that during the course of mediation, the parties had almost reached settlement and it was thought that the aforesaid amount of Rs. 60,00,000/- was be subsumed in the amount that would have been agreed upon by the parties, if the mediation had succeeded.

It is specifically stated that a demand draft for an amount of Rs. 60,00,000/- in favour of the Prothonotary and Senior Master of this Court is ready and can be deposited at the earliest.

The learned counsel for the petitioner is pressing for ad-interim reliefs in the light of failure of mediation process.

This Court is of the opinion that the respondents ought to have approached this Court before expiry of the period of four weeks granted for depositing amount of Rs. 60,00,000/- to explain the backdrop in which the amount was not deposited and why extension was necessary. In any case, the respondents were required to pay amount of Rs. 2,50,000/- per month from the November, 2023 to the petitioner. The respondents ought to show their bona fide by making the aforesaid payment for the months of November and December 2023, before the application for modification filed on their behalf can be taken up for consideration by this Court.

In view of the above, respondent Nos. 1 and 2 are directed to deposit demand draft of Rs. 60,00,000/- in favour of Prothonotary and Senior Master of this Court on or before 11th December, 2023. The said respondents shall also pay amount of Rs. 5,00,000/- to the petitioner (Rs. 2,50,000/- each for the months of November and December, 2023) on or before 13th December, 2023 and file proof thereof, in this Court before the next date of listing.

List the petition for further consideration alongwith the application said to have been filed on behalf of respondent Nos. 1 and 2 for modification of the order dated 05th October, 2023, on 19th December, 2023, to be included in the “Supplementary List.”