{"id":85255,"date":"2007-02-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-02-27T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/national-thermal-power-vs-siemens-atkeingesellschaft-on-28-february-2007"},"modified":"2018-05-25T22:34:08","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T17:04:08","slug":"national-thermal-power-vs-siemens-atkeingesellschaft-on-28-february-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/national-thermal-power-vs-siemens-atkeingesellschaft-on-28-february-2007","title":{"rendered":"National Thermal Power &#8230; vs Siemens Atkeingesellschaft on 28 February, 2007"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Supreme Court of India<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">National Thermal Power &#8230; vs Siemens Atkeingesellschaft on 28 February, 2007<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: A Mathur<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: A.K. Mathur, P.K. Balasubramanyan<\/div>\n<pre>           CASE NO.:\nAppeal (civil)  1953 of 2006\n\nPETITIONER:\nNATIONAL THERMAL POWER CORPORATION LTD.\n\nRESPONDENT:\nSIEMENS ATKEINGESELLSCHAFT\n\nDATE OF JUDGMENT: 28\/02\/2007\n\nBENCH:\nA.K. MATHUR &amp; P.K. BALASUBRAMANYAN\n\nJUDGMENT:\n<\/pre>\n<p>JUDGMENT<\/p>\n<p>A.K. MATHUR, J.\n<\/p>\n<p>1. This appeal is directed against the order passed by the Delhi High Court<br \/>\ndated 24-5-2005 challenging the partial award given by the International<br \/>\nChamber of Commerce, Arbitration Tribunal on 31-7-2002.\n<\/p>\n<p>2. Brief facts which are necessary for disposal of this appeal are that on<br \/>\n6-12-1999 the parties entered into a contract for setting up of 817 MW Gas<br \/>\nBased Combined Cycle Power Project at Dadri, U.P. at a price of DEM<br \/>\n324,405,000 equivalent to Rs.2,190,000,000\/- (Rupees two thousand one<br \/>\nhundred ninety million). At the request of the respondent- Siemens<br \/>\nAtkeingesellschaft (hereinafter to be referred to as &#8220;SAG&#8221;) three separate<br \/>\ncontracts were entered into with cross-fall breach clause. One contract was<br \/>\nwith respondent -SAG known as &#8220;First Contract&#8221; and the other with its<br \/>\nassociates, namely Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), New Delhi and<br \/>\nthe third with Siemens Limited, Bombay. Considerable delay occurred in<br \/>\nexecution of the contract which was mostly attributable to the appellant-<br \/>\nNational Thermal Power Corporation (hereinafter to be referred to as<br \/>\n&#8220;NTPC&#8221;), due to delay in opening of Letters of Credit in favour of the<br \/>\nrespondent-SAG and in obtaining import licences for various equipments from<br \/>\nStatutory Authorities. Respondent raised several claims against the<br \/>\nappellant-NTPC for losses resulting from delay. On the other hand, the<br \/>\nappellant was also facing acute difficulty in getting the critical<br \/>\ncomponents and spare parts and tools from the respondent. In order to sort<br \/>\nout the said disputes, a high-powered meeting of the parties was held on<br \/>\n6th\/7th April, 2002 in which several decisions were taken. One of the<br \/>\ndecisions taken in the meeting was that the respondent was to supply the<br \/>\ncritical components and spare parts etc. to the appellant-NTPC on its part<br \/>\nand on the other hand the appellant-NTPC agreed to look into the claim<br \/>\nraised by the respondent-SAG with more positive approach in view of the<br \/>\nfact that there was delay in arranging import licences and opening of<br \/>\nLetter of Credit by the appellant-NTPC. In pursuance to the decision, the<br \/>\nrespondent-SAG supplied the critical components etc. but the appellant-NTPC<br \/>\ndid not favourably consider the claim of the respondent-SAG for damages on<br \/>\naccount of the aforesaid delay. Subsequently, the respondent-SAG made a<br \/>\nreference to ICC Court of Arbitration, Paris for settlement of their<br \/>\ndisputes\/claim to compensation on account of delay in terms of Clause 27 of<br \/>\nthe Contract. The ICC International Court of Arbitration registered the<br \/>\nreference as Case No. 11728\/ACS and on 5th May, 2002 issued terms of<br \/>\nreference. The ICC International Court of Arbitration was comprised of<br \/>\nthree Arbitrators, namely Mr. Arthur Marriott QC, Chairman and Mr. Justice<br \/>\nR.S. Pathak and Mr. Justice A.M. Ahmadi, two former Chief Justices of the<br \/>\nSupreme Court of India. While the claim of the respondent-SAG related<br \/>\nlargely to compensation on account of delay on the part of the appellant-<br \/>\nNTPC in procuring the import licences and belated opening of the Letter of<br \/>\nCredit in favour of the respondent, the appellant-NTPC besides filing their<br \/>\ndefence to the said claims also filed several counter claims on various<br \/>\ncounts amounting to hundreds of crores of rupees against the respondent-<br \/>\nSAG. The respondent-SAG resisted the said counter claims of the appellant-<br \/>\nNTPC inter alia on the grounds that the counter claims were not arbitrable<br \/>\nbecause the claims had been waived and\/or abandoned and\/or discharged<br \/>\nand\/or satisfied or compromised and the appellant had failed to fulfil the<br \/>\ncondition precedent to arbitration specified in Clauses 26 &amp; 27 of the<br \/>\nGeneral Conditions of Contract. Number of issues were framed and the<br \/>\nTribunal after considering the submissions of the parties, gave a partial<br \/>\naward on 31-7-2002 and held that the claim of the respondent-SAG was<br \/>\nmaintainable and was not barred by limitation while the counter claims of<br \/>\nthe appellant-NTPC was not admissible because the same were caught by the<br \/>\nagreement contained in the minutes of meeting (MoM) dated 6th\/7th April,<br \/>\n2000. Aggrieved against this partial award so far as it non-suited the<br \/>\nappellant-NTPC in respect of their counter claims, the appellant-NTPC<br \/>\ndirectly approached the High Court by filing an appeal.\n<\/p>\n<p>3. The preliminary objection which was raised before the High Court was<br \/>\nwhether the appeal filed against the partial award of the ICC International<br \/>\nCourt of Arbitration was maintainable or not. Learned Single Judge of the<br \/>\nHigh Court after elaborate discussions on the subject, took the view that<br \/>\nthe appeal under Section 37(2)(a) of the Arbitration &amp; Conciliation Act,<br \/>\n1996 (hereinafter to be referred to as &#8220;the Act&#8221;) was not maintainable. It<br \/>\nwas observed by the learned Single Judge as follows:\n<\/p>\n<p>\t&#8220;This Court on a thorough examination of the material obtaining on<br \/>\n\trecord, more particularly on a conjoint reading of the pleadings of<br \/>\n\tthe parties filed before the Arbitral Tribunal, the Terms of<br \/>\n\tReference framed by the International Chamber of Commerce, the<br \/>\n\twritten submissions filed by the parties before the Arbitral<br \/>\n\tTribunal prior and after the closure of the hearing, the tenor of<br \/>\n\tthe reasoning and finding recorded by the Arbitral Tribunal in its<br \/>\n\tdispensation titled as &#8220;Partial Final Award&#8221; and on a true<br \/>\n\tconstruction and scope of the provisions of Section 16 and Section<br \/>\n\t37 of the Act, is clearly of the view that the impugned<br \/>\n\tdispensation dated 31-7-2002 rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal<br \/>\n\tcannot by any stretch be said to be an order passed by the Tribunal<br \/>\n\teither under the provisions of Section 16(2) or Section 16(3) of<br \/>\n\tthe Act and in any case deciding the question of jurisdiction in<br \/>\n\tthe negative which will fall within the ambit of appelable orders<br \/>\n\twithin the meaning of Section 37(2)(a) of the Act. In the opinion<br \/>\n\tof this Court, the impugned partial Award is nothing but an Award<br \/>\n\tof interim Award deciding the counter claims of the NTPC finally on<br \/>\n\tmerits. This Court, therefore, must hold that the present appeal<br \/>\n\tfiled by the NTPC against such a Partial Award under the provisions<br \/>\n\tof Section 37(2)(a) of the Act is misconceived and is not<br \/>\n\tmaintainable.\n<\/p>\n<p>Aggrieved against this order, the present appeal has been filed by the<br \/>\nappellant-NTPC.\n<\/p>\n<p>4. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the records.<br \/>\nThe question before us in the present appeal is whether the view taken by<br \/>\nlearned Single Judge of the High Court that the appeal under Section 37 of<br \/>\nthe Act is maintainable against the interim award or not. Learned counsel<br \/>\nfor the appellant took us through all the details of the pleadings and<br \/>\ntried to persuade us that the question of jurisdiction and limitation is<br \/>\ninvolved, therefore, the appeal is maintainable under Section 37 of the<br \/>\nAct. The first and foremost question before us is to examine the provisions<br \/>\nof Section 37 read with Section 16 of the Act. Section 37 of the Act reads<br \/>\nas under:\n<\/p>\n<p>\t&#8220;37. Appelable orders.- (1) An appeal shall lie from the following<br \/>\n\torders (and from no others) to the Court authorized by law to hear<br \/>\n\tappeals from original decrees of the Court passing the order,<br \/>\n\tnamely:-\n<\/p>\n<p>\t(a) granting or refusing to grant any measure under section 9;\n<\/p>\n<p>\t(b) setting aside or refusing to set aside an arbitral award under<br \/>\n\tsection 34.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t(2) An appeal shall also lie to a Court from an order granting of<br \/>\n\tthe arbitral tribunal-\n<\/p>\n<p>\t(a) accepting the plea referred in sub-section (2) or sub-section<br \/>\n\t(3) of section 16; or<\/p>\n<p>\t(b) granting or refusing to grant an interim measure under section\n<\/p>\n<p>\t17.<\/p>\n<p>\t(3) No second appeal shall lie from an order passed in appeal under<br \/>\n\tthis section, but nothing in this section shall affect or take away<br \/>\n\tany right to appeal to the Supreme Court.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>So far as Section 37(1)(a) of the Act is concerned, it contemplates that no<br \/>\nappeal shall lie from any orders except, namely granting or refusing to<br \/>\ngrant measure under Section 9. Section 9 deals with interim orders and<br \/>\nSection 37(1)(b) relates to order passed under Section 34 i.e. setting<br \/>\naside or refusing to set aside an arbitral award under section 34. Sub-<br \/>\nsection (2)(a) of Section 37 provides that appeal shall also lie to the<br \/>\nCourt from an order of the arbitral tribunal accepting the plea under sub-<br \/>\nsection (2) or sub-section (3) of Section 16 and sub-section (2)(b)<br \/>\ncontemplates appeal against the order granting or refusing to grant an<br \/>\ninterim measure under section 17 i.e. at the time of pendency of the<br \/>\narbitration proceedings by the Tribunal. Sub-section (3) says that no<br \/>\nsecond appeal shall lie from the orders passed in appeal under this<br \/>\nsection. Now we shall examine the scope of Section 16, which reads as<br \/>\nunder:\n<\/p>\n<p>\t&#8220;16. Competence of arbitral tribunal to rule on its jurisdiction.-<br \/>\n\t(1) The arbitral tribunal may rule on its own jurisdiction,<br \/>\n\tincluding ruling on any objections with respect to the existence or<br \/>\n\tvalidity of the arbitration agreement, and for that purpose,<\/p>\n<p>\t(a) an arbitration clause which forms part of a contract shall be<br \/>\n\ttreated as an agreement independent of the other terms of the<br \/>\n\tcontract; and<\/p>\n<p>\t(b) a decision by the arbitral tribunal that the contract is null<br \/>\n\tand void shall not entail ipso jure the invalidity of the<br \/>\n\tarbitration cause.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t(2) A plea that the arbitral tribunal does not have jurisdiction<br \/>\n\tshall be raised not later than the submission of the statement of<br \/>\n\tdefence; however, a party shall not be precluded from raising such<br \/>\n\ta plea merely because that he has appointed, or participated in the<br \/>\n\tappointment of, an arbitrator.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t(3) A plea that the arbitral tribunal is exceeding the scope of its<br \/>\n\tauthority shall be raised as soon as the matter alleged to be<br \/>\n\tbeyond the scope of its authority is raised during the arbitral<br \/>\n\tproceedings.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t(4) The arbitral tribunal may, in either of the cases referred to<br \/>\n\tin sub-section (2) or sub-section (3), admit a later plea if it<br \/>\n\tconsiders the delay justified.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t(5) The arbitral tribunal shall decide on a plea referred to in<br \/>\n\tsub-section (2) or sub-section (3) and, where the arbitral tribunal<br \/>\n\ttakes a decision rejecting the plea, continue with the arbitral<br \/>\n\tproceedings and make an arbitral award.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t(6) A party aggrieved by such an arbitral award may make an<br \/>\n\tapplication for setting aside such an arbitral award in accordance<br \/>\n\twith section 34.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>Sub-sections (2) &amp; (3) of Section 16 deal with jurisdiction. Sub-section<br \/>\n(2) of Section 16 says that a plea of lack of jurisdiction of the tribunal<br \/>\nshould be raised at the earliest i.e. not later than submission of<br \/>\nstatement of defence and it further says that a party shall not be<br \/>\nprecluded from raising such a plea merely because he has appointed, or<br \/>\nparticipated in the appointment of an arbitrator. Sub-section (3) says that<br \/>\nthe plea that the arbitral tribunal is exceeding the scope of its authority<br \/>\nshall be raised during the arbitral proceedings. A reading of sub-sections<br \/>\n(2) &amp; (3) of Section 16 makes it clear that it deals with jurisdiction i.e.<br \/>\nthat the arbitral tribunal has no jurisdiction or that the arbitral<br \/>\ntribunal has exceeded its jurisdiction. In either of the two situations, a<br \/>\ndirect appeal is maintainable under sub-section (2) of Section 37.<br \/>\nTherefore, in the light of this legal position we shall examine whether the<br \/>\ntribunal while awarding an interim award has exceeded its jurisdiction or<br \/>\nit had no jurisdiction whatsoever.\n<\/p>\n<p>5. So far as sub-section (2) of Section 16 is concerned, we may<br \/>\nstraightaway dispose of the question of lack of jurisdiction on the part of<br \/>\nthe tribunal since that is not involved in the present case. But the<br \/>\nemphasis in the present case was that the tribunal had exceeded its<br \/>\njurisdiction in passing a partial award. The facts have already been<br \/>\nmentioned above. It may be relevant to mention here the relevant clause of<br \/>\nthe agreement which deals with arbitration. Clauses 26 &amp; 27 of the General<br \/>\nConditions of Contract reads as under:\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;26.0. SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTE<\/p>\n<p>\t26.1. Any dispute(s) or difference(s) arising out of or in<br \/>\n\tconnection with the Contract shall to the extent possible be<br \/>\n\tsettled amicably between the parties.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t26.2. Except as otherwise specifically provided in clause 27.0<br \/>\n\therein under all unsettled dispute(s) or difference(s) arising out<br \/>\n\tof or in connection with the Contract shall in the first instance<br \/>\n\tbe decided by an engineer whose decision shall be final and binding<br \/>\n\ton the parties.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t27.0 ARBITRATION<\/p>\n<p>\t27.1. If any dispute or difference of any kind whatsoever shall<br \/>\n\tarise between the Owner and the Contractor, arising out of the<br \/>\n\tContract for the performance of the Works whether during the<br \/>\n\tprogress of the Works or after its completion or whether before or<br \/>\n\tafter the termination, abandonment or breach of the Contract, it<br \/>\n\tshall, in the first place, be referred to and settled by the<br \/>\n\tEngineer, who, within a period of thirty (30) days after being<br \/>\n\trequested by either party to do so shall give written notice of his<br \/>\n\tdecision to the Owner and the Contractor.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t27.2. Save as hereinafter provided, such decision in respect of<br \/>\n\tevery matter so referred shall be final and binding upon the<br \/>\n\tparties until the completion of the works and shall forthwith be<br \/>\n\tgiven effect to by the Contractor who shall proceed with the Works<br \/>\n\twith all due diligence whether he or the Owner requires arbitration<br \/>\n\tas hereinafter provided or not.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t27.3. If after the Engineer has given written notice of his<br \/>\n\tdecision to the parties no claim to arbitration has been<br \/>\n\tcommunicated to him by either party within thirty (30) days from<br \/>\n\tthe receipt of such notice, the said decision shall become final<br \/>\n\tand binding on the parties.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t27.4. In the event of the Engineer failing to notify his decision<br \/>\n\tas aforesaid within thirty (30) days after being requested as<br \/>\n\taforesaid, or in the event of either the Owner or the Contractor<br \/>\n\tbeing dissatisfied with any such decision, or within thirty (30)<br \/>\n\tdays, as the case may be, either party may require that the matters<br \/>\n\tin dispute be referred to arbitration as hereinafter provided.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t27.5. All disputes or differences in respect of which the decision<br \/>\n\tif any of the Engineer has not become final or binding as<br \/>\n\taforesaid, shall be settled by arbitration in the manner<br \/>\n\thereinafter provided.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t27.6. In the event of foreign Contractor, the arbitration shall be<br \/>\n\tconducted by three arbitrators, one each to be nominated by the<br \/>\n\tOwner and the Contractor and the third to be named by the President<br \/>\n\tof the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris, save as above all<br \/>\n\tRules of Conciliation and Arbitration of the International Chamber<br \/>\n\tof Commerce shall apply to such arbitrations. The arbitration shall<br \/>\n\tbe conducted at such places as the arbitrators may determine.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t27.7. The decision of the majority of the arbitrators shall be<br \/>\n\tfinal and binding upon the parties. The expense of the arbitration<br \/>\n\tshall be paid as may be determined by the arbitrators. The<br \/>\n\tarbitrators may from time to time, with the consent of all the<br \/>\n\tparties enlarge the time for making the award. In the event of any<br \/>\n\tof the aforesaid arbitrators dying, neglecting, resigning or being<br \/>\n\tunable to act for any reason it will be lawful for the party<br \/>\n\tconcerned to nominate another arbitrator in place of the outgoing<br \/>\n\tarbitrator.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>6. In the present case, when the matter was approached by the respondent<br \/>\nherein before the Engineer, he declined and therefore, the matter was<br \/>\nreferred to arbitration and the Arbitrators initiated the proceedings. In<br \/>\nthat a counter-claim was made. The counter-claim pertained to the issues<br \/>\nwhich have already been settled in the minutes of meeting of 6th\/7th April,<br \/>\n2000. Therefore, the stand taken by the respondent against the counter-<br \/>\nclaim was that it is without jurisdiction and it is not arbitrable because<br \/>\nthe counter-claim Nos. 1 to 7 have already been settled by the minutes of<br \/>\nthe meeting dated 6th\/7th April, 2000. The Arbitrators after considering<br \/>\nthe counter-claim came to the finding that as per the minutes of meeting<br \/>\ndated 6th\/7th April, 2000 the counter-claims have already been settled.<br \/>\nEach of the counter-claim was examined by the arbitrators. The Arbitrators<br \/>\nin their award observed in Para 4.58 that in the Tribunal&#8217;s view none of<br \/>\nthese alleged Counterclaims was admissible and majority of these claims<br \/>\nstood settled. It was also observed while discussing each of the counter<br \/>\nclaim that counter-claim Nos. 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 &amp; 10 were already covered by<br \/>\nthe minutes of meeting dated 6th\/7th April, 2000 and finally in paragraphs<br \/>\n4.60 &amp; 4.61 it was observed as under:\n<\/p>\n<p>\t&#8220;4.60 As will be seen, the majority of the Counterclaims is said to<br \/>\n\tbe caught by the settlement agreement of the 6th\/7th April, 2000<br \/>\n\twhich was the subject of the exchange of correspondence on the 5th<br \/>\n\tMay 2000 and the 10th May 2000 to which reference has already been<br \/>\n\tmade above. On the fact of it the MOM taken in conjunction with the<br \/>\n\tsubsequent correspondence clearly show a binding agreement for good<br \/>\n\tconsideration whereby a number of claims were compromised. Thus,<br \/>\n\tparagraphs 2,3 and 4 reflect a discussion about critical components<br \/>\n\tand operational guarantee. Those matters were settled as appears<br \/>\n\tfrom paragraph 5.\n<\/p>\n<p>\t&#8220;so as to avoid any arbitration on either side in order to ensure<br \/>\n\tsupply of critical components by SAG for the forthcoming overhauls.<br \/>\n\tAccordingly, various issue (sic) were discussed and agreements were<br \/>\n\treached as per the following paragraphs as a package deal.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\t4.61. What then follows is a series of specific agreements clearly<br \/>\n\trecorded as such and thereby setling the disputes which then<br \/>\n\texisted. And by paragraph 15 there was express confirmation by both<br \/>\n\tparties:\n<\/p>\n<p>\t&#8220;that there were no other issues to be resolved in first and third<br \/>\n\tcontracts.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>7. The Tribunal also held that certain objections were taken with regard to<br \/>\nthe agreement not being binding which was disposed of by the Tribunal as it<br \/>\nhad no merits because the agreement was voluntarily made between the<br \/>\nparties and it was not under duress or by deception. In paragraph 4.64 of<br \/>\nthe Award it was concluded that so far as counter claim Nos.2,3,4,5,6,8,9 &amp;<br \/>\n10 were concerned, they were caught by settlement. So far as counterclaim<br \/>\nNo.7 was concerned, it was mere reservation of right and so far as<br \/>\ncounterclaim No. 1 was concerned, it was the opinion of the Tribunal that<br \/>\nfive purchase orders were confirmed and supplied and therefore, no dispute<br \/>\ncould arise. Accordingly, the Tribunal held that in view of settlement of<br \/>\nissues in the minutes of meeting dated 6th\/7th April, 2000 it was<br \/>\nunnecessary for the Tribunal to consider any additional defence to the<br \/>\ncounterclaim and it was held that they were not admissible and not capable<br \/>\nof being included in that reference to arbitration. Accordingly, this<br \/>\npartial award was passed by the Tribunal. The Tribunal considered all these<br \/>\ncounterclaims and recoded the aforesaid finding.\n<\/p>\n<p>8. Now, the only question that remains to be decided in the present case is<br \/>\nwhether against the order of partial award an appeal is maintainable<br \/>\ndirectly under Section 37 of the Act or not. We have considered the<br \/>\nsubmissions of learned counsel for the appellant and after going through<br \/>\nthe counterclaim and the partial award, we are of opinion that no question<br \/>\nof jurisdiction arises in the matter so as to enable the appellant to file<br \/>\na direct appeal under Section 37 of the Act before the High Court. As<br \/>\nalready mentioned above, an appeal under sub-section (2) of Section 37 only<br \/>\nlies if there is an order passed under Section 16(2) &amp; (3) of the Act.<br \/>\nSection 16(2) &amp; (3) deals with the exercise of jurisdiction. The plea of<br \/>\njurisdiction was not taken by the appellant. It was taken by the respondent<br \/>\nin order to meet their counterclaim. But it was not in the context of the<br \/>\nfact that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction, it was in the context that this<br \/>\nquestion of counterclaim was no more open to be decided for the simple<br \/>\nreason that all the issues which had been raised in counterclaim Nos. 1 to<br \/>\n10 had already been settled in the minutes of meeting dated 6th\/7th April,<br \/>\n2000 and it was recorded that no other issues to be resolved in 1st and 3rd<br \/>\ncontracts. Therefore, we fail to understand how the question of<br \/>\njurisdiction was involved in the matter. In fact it was in the context of<br \/>\nthe fact that the entire counterclaims have already been satisfied and<br \/>\nsettled in the meeting that it was concluded that no further issues<br \/>\nremained to be settled. In this context, the counterclaims filed by the<br \/>\nappellant was opposed. If any grievance was there, that should have been by<br \/>\nthe respondent and not by the appellant. It is only the finding of fact<br \/>\nrecorded by the Tribunal after considering the counterclaim vis-a-vis the<br \/>\nminutes of the meeting dated 6th\/7th April, 2000. Therefore, there was no<br \/>\nquestion of jurisdiction involved in the matter so as to enable the<br \/>\nappellant to approach the High Court directly. The High Court has also<br \/>\nexamined this matter and clearly observed in its order in paragraph 9 as<br \/>\nfollows:\n<\/p>\n<p>\t&#8220;Therefore, in the case in hand it is to be seen if the plea raised<br \/>\n\tby the Siemens AG in regard to the counter-claims of NTPC was a<br \/>\n\tplea pertaining to lack of jurisdiction of the Arbitral Tribunal or<br \/>\n\tarbitrability of the said dispute within the meaning of Section<br \/>\n\t16(2) or Section 16(3) of the Act or it was the plea in regard to<br \/>\n\tthe merits of the counter-claim and its existence\/subsistence on<br \/>\n\tthe ground that the counter-claims raised by the NTPC stood settled<br \/>\n\tand did not subsist any longer more particularly in view of the<br \/>\n\tdecisions taken by the parties as reflected in the MoM dated 6th<br \/>\n\tand 7th April, 2000.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>9. Therefore, the question of jurisdiction in the present controversy did<br \/>\nnot arise because the counter-claim was opposed by the respondent-SAG as<br \/>\nthe same has since been stood settled. In view of the finding of fact<br \/>\nrecorded by the Tribunal that all the counter-claims stood covered by the<br \/>\ndecisions of the minutes of meeting though it was initially opposed by the<br \/>\nrespondent-SAG that it was not arbitrable or the Tribunal could not go into<br \/>\ncounter-claim, despite that it examined on the merit of the matter and on<br \/>\nthe merits the Tribunal disposed of the counter-claim by giving partial<br \/>\naward. We fail to understand how can the appellant-NTPC can raise the<br \/>\nquestion of jurisdiction and bring its case under Section 16(2) &amp; (3).\n<\/p>\n<p>10. Learned counsel for the appellant tried to refer to some of the<br \/>\ndecisions of this Court but we do not think those decisions need to be<br \/>\nnoted in the present case as the whole question turned on the facts<br \/>\ninvolved in the present case and we are satisfied that the partial award<br \/>\ncan be given and against this partial award the appellant has remedy under<br \/>\nsection 34 of the Act and thereafter they could file appeal under Section<br \/>\n37 of the Act. But no direct appeal would lie before the High Court because<br \/>\nno jurisdictional issue was involved. The counter-claim was disposed of on<br \/>\nthe basic fact that the counter-claims had been settled by the MoM dated<br \/>\n6th\/7th April, 2000. In this view of the matter, we need not refer to the<br \/>\ndecisions cited by learned counsel and other written submissions made by<br \/>\nthe appellant. We are satisfied that the view taken by the High Court is<br \/>\ncorrect, appeal was not maintainable under Section 37(2) of the Act before<br \/>\nthe High Court and there is no ground to interfere with the order passed by<br \/>\nthe High Court. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed with no order as to<br \/>\ncosts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court of India National Thermal Power &#8230; vs Siemens Atkeingesellschaft on 28 February, 2007 Author: A Mathur Bench: A.K. Mathur, P.K. Balasubramanyan CASE NO.: Appeal (civil) 1953 of 2006 PETITIONER: NATIONAL THERMAL POWER CORPORATION LTD. RESPONDENT: SIEMENS ATKEINGESELLSCHAFT DATE OF JUDGMENT: 28\/02\/2007 BENCH: A.K. MATHUR &amp; P.K. BALASUBRAMANYAN JUDGMENT: JUDGMENT A.K. MATHUR, J. 1. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supreme-court-of-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>National Thermal Power ... vs Siemens Atkeingesellschaft on 28 February, 2007 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/national-thermal-power-vs-siemens-atkeingesellschaft-on-28-february-2007\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"National Thermal Power ... vs Siemens Atkeingesellschaft on 28 February, 2007 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; 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