Leave granted.
The short question is whether in terms of Clause 13 of
the Work Order, the dispute raised by the appellant should be
referred to the Arbitration. The Clause 13 of the Work Order reads
as follows:
“In case of any dispute the matter shall be referred to
the Chief Executive Officer – Shri Amarnathji Shrine
Board, whose decision in the matter shall be final.”
Though learned JUDGMENTCounsel for the appellant tried to convince
that the aforesaid Clause has to be read as an Arbitration Clause
for settling the disputes between the parties, placing reliance on
the decision of this Court in State of Punjab and Others Vs. Dina
Nath, (2007) 5 SCC 28, we are unable to appreciate the contention
in view of the subsequent decision of a three Judge Bench of this
Court in P. Dasaratharama Reddy Complex Vs. Government of Karnataka
and Another, (2014) 2 SCC 201.
Be that as it may, in view of the long pendency of the
dispute, the learned Counsel for the appellant submits that
appellant may be permitted to invoke the provision for adjudication
before the Chief Executive Officer with the appellant's
participation and the same may be disposed of in a time bound
manner.
Having heard the learned Senior Counsel appearing for the
respondents, we see no reason to deny the request, accordingly, the
appeal is disposed of as follows.
The appellant is free to make a comprehensive representation
raising all the disputes before the Chief Executive Officer of
Respondent No.1, within a period of four weeks from today. The
Chief Executive Officer shall look into the same and after hearing
the appellant take a final decision in the matter within another
six weeks.
No costs.