Kolkata, April 15 -- The Calcutta High Court has refused to interfere with an arbitral award in a dispute over land at Behala Airport, holding that courts cannot reassess facts like an appellate forum in arbitration matters.
A Division Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi dismissed an appeal by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), upholding an earlier order that had declined to set aside the arbitral award in favour of Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt Ltd.
The dispute arose from a 2009 licence agreement under which AAI allowed the company Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt Ltd to use land at Behala Airport to set up a flying training institute. The agreement was later terminated by the company in 2013-14 after disputes between the parties.
In arbitration, the company said it could not establish and run the flying school due to faults and breaches on AAI's part. AAI, on the other hand, sought royalty and other charges, alleging that the company had used the land without payment.
The arbitrator allowed most of the company's claims and rejected AAI's counter-claim for royalties. AAI challenged this, arguing that its counter-claim should have been considered separately and allowed.
The High Court rejected the plea, noting that the arbitrator had examined the materials and taken a plausible view that the company was not at fault. It held that such findings cannot be disturbed unless they are perverse, which was not the case here.
The Bench also refused to accept that AAI's claim could be separated from the rest of the award, observing that both claims arose from the same agreement and factual background.
Dismissing the appeal, the court directed that the Rs 4.5 crore bank guarantee furnished by AAI be encashed and paid to the company towards satisfaction of the award, after a four-week period.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.