Gopal Krishan Jaggi vs Satish Jaggi

Neena Bansal Krishna, J

Fresh petition under Section 9 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 has been filed on behalf of the petitioner with the following prayer:

“(i) Restrain the Respondent from conducting any further demolition activities (either himself or through contractor) on the property bearing number 10, situated in Khasra No. 176, Village Nawada, now known as Bharat Enclave, New Delhi;

(ii) Restrain the Respondent from removing any material, fixtures, fittings, debris from the property bearing number 10, situated in Khasra No. 176, Village Nawada, now known as Bharat Enclave, New Delhi;

(iii) Restrain the Respondent from selling, disposing, leasing, transferring, gifting, mortgaging, hypothecating, creating any third party interests over the property bearing number 10, situated in Khasra No. 176, Village Nawada, now known as Bharat Enclave, New Delhi;

(iv) Pass any other order/direction as deemed fit in the interest of justice.”

An Award dated 16.10.2023 has been made in the matter, wherein it has been held that the construction of the building has been carried out unauthorizedly without obtaining the requisite sanction from MCD and thus, the entire Agreement of Construction has been held to be void and the following Order has been made :

“(a) The claims are rejected without any order as to costs;

(b) The Counter Claims are rejected without any order as to costs,

(c) The• Claimant will be entitled to the malba / debris of the building constructed by him and deal • with the same in any manner he deems appropriate. He is also entitled to remove, at his own cost, all the fittings and fixtures installed by him in the subject property, subject to the said property being desealed by MCD• for this purpose, on his request and deal with the same in any manner he deems appropriate. He wil1 also be entitled to remove• the lift brought by him for installation in the subject building and deal with it in any manner he deems appropriate;

(d) The parties shall bear their respective cost of arbitration.”

Learned counsel on behalf of the respondent submits that he has already engaged a Contractor for pulling down the entire building and has even given Notices to the petitioner to remove the malba/ fittings and fixtures as has been permitted in the Award dated 16.10.2023. However, despite the Notices, the petitioner has not been forthcoming to remove the malba/ fittings and fixtures, as directed.

Submissions heard.

The parties agree that the petitioner is at liberty to inspect the premises in the presence of the representative of the respondent and take stock of the malba which is lying.

The guidelines have been issued by the Delhi Government and the entire construction work including demolition has been stopped and it may not be possible to remove the malba. Presently, both the parties have agreed that within two months excluding the period of restrictions, the building shall be demolished and the entire malba, fittings and fixtures shall be removed. The petitioner is a liberty to take the malba, fittings and fixtures on day to day basis.

These observations are without the prejudice to the right of the parties to initiate appropriate proceedings to challenge the Award or to take any other necessary steps.

The petition is accordingly disposed of.