Pakistan Case LawNATIONAL HIGHWAY AUTHORITY Versus M/s. DAEWOO CORPORATION
This petition arose from a dispute regarding the summoning of an Arbitrator in legal proceedings. The core legal question concerned whether the trial Court should be directed to summon the Arbitrator as a witness or if such a decision should be left to the trial Court's discretion after hearing the parties. By consent of the parties, the Supreme Court held that the decision regarding whether to summon the Arbitrator must be determined by the trial Court itself, following the recording of any necessary evidence and after hearing the parties. Consequently, the High Court's order dated 21st December 1994 was upheld, subject to the deletion of the specific paragraph mandating the summoning of the Arbitrator and imposing conditions thereon. Additionally, the Supreme Court ordered the deletion of observations in the trial Court's order dated 31st July 1994, which had prematurely accepted an application filed under the Arbitration Act, 1940. The petition was disposed of in these terms, affirming the trial Court's authority to manage its own evidentiary process regarding the Arbitrator.
- Should the decision to summon an Arbitrator be determined by the trial Court after hearing the parties?
- Can a High Court order mandating the summoning of an Arbitrator be modified by consent of the parties?
ORDER
By consent of the learned counsel appearing before us for both the parties it is hereby directed that the question whether the Arbitrator should be summoned or not is to be decided by the trial Court after recording evidence if any and after hearing the parties in this matter. In consequence, order, dated 21st December, 1994 passed by the High Court and impugned in this petition is hereby upheld with deletion of paragraph 3 in the operative part with regard to the summoning of the Arbitrator and imposing condition therefor.
2.Likewise, in the order, dated 31st July, 1994 of the trial Court the observation to the effect that application filed by the respondent under section 33 of the Arbitration Act, 1940 is accepted is to be deemed as deleted.
3.The petition is disposed of in the terms stated above.
Judges on this bench
- Sajjad Ali Shah1,895 judgments
- Irshad Hasan Khan1,063 judgments