Summoning the arbitrator

Union Of India VS. Orient Engg. & Commercial Co. Ltd. & Anr.

Respondent No. 1 filed, under Order XVI Rules 1 and 2 read with s. 151, C.P.C., a list of witnesses to be summoned including the Arbitrator who made an award in a matter between the appellant and the respondent No. 1. The Registrar of the High Court in the routine course granted summons without satisfying himself as to the sufficiency of cause to summon the arbitrator as required under Order XVI Rule 3, C.P.C. An objection petition u/s. 151, C.P.C. filed before the learned Judge of the High Court against the orders of the Registrar was dismissed.

Allowing the appeal, the Court,

HELD : (1) It is not right that every one who is included in the witness list is automatically summoned, but the true rule is that if grounds are made out for summoning a witness, he will be called. The court must realise that its process should be used sparingly and after careful deliberation if the arbitrator should be brought into the witness box. If a party has a case of mala fides and makes out prima facie that it is not a frivolous charge or has other reasonably relevant matters to be brought out, the court may, in given circumstances, exercise its power to summon even an arbitrator because nobody is beyond the reach of truth or trial by court.

(2)Courts should bear in mind the reason behind s. 121 of the Evidence Act when invited to issue summons to an arbitrator. It will be very embarrassing and in many cases objectionable if every quasi-judicial authority or tribunal were put to the necessity of getting into the witness box and testify as to what weighed in his mind in reaching his verdict. The slightest attempt to get to the materials of his decision, to get back to, his mind and to examine him as to why and how he arrived at a particular decision should be immediately and ruthlessly excluded as unreasonable. When an arbitrator has given an award, if grounds justifying his being called as a witness are affirmatively made out, the court may exercise its powers-otherwise not.

In the instant case the court has not approached the question from the proper perspective and on the materials on record, there is no justification for the examination of the arbitrator.
Khub Lal v. Bishambhar Sahai A.I.R. 1925 Allahabad 103, approved.

[The Court left open to the High Court to issue-necessary Process on a fresh application stating why he wants to examine the arbitrator, if and when made by the respondent.]