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TMI Blog2014 (4) TMI 1286X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... st by the buyer at three times of the Bank rate notified by the Reserve Bank upon a failure of the buyer to make payment, as required under Section 15 notwithstanding anything contained in any agreement or in any law for the time being in force. The petitioner invoked the provisions of the 2006 Act by filing a reference to the Facilitation Council on 3 October 2011. There was undoubtedly a dispute between the petitioner and the respondents in regard to the claim of the petitioner arising out of non payment of its bills. The respondents appointed a sole arbitrator on 5 October 2011 after the petitioner had invoked the intervention of the Facilitation Council on 3 October 2011 under Section 18 of the 2006 Act. Once the jurisdiction of the Facilitation Council has been validly invoked, the Council has exclusive jurisdiction to enter upon conciliation in the first instance and after conciliation has ended in failure, to refer the parties to arbitration - The Facilitation Council was clearly in error in entertaining the objection filed by the respondents and referring the petitioner to the sole arbitrator so designated by the respondents. The impugned order of the Facilitation Cou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion Council at Kanpur could exercise the jurisdiction. The respondents stated that in pursuance of the request which was made by the petitioner, an arbitrator had been appointed on 5 October 2011. On 28 December 2012, the respondents filed an application under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 on the ground that the sole arbitrator had been appointed by the respondents in pursuance of the request made by the petitioner. 4. Upon receipt of the reference, the Facilitation Council conducted conciliation proceedings. The Facilitation Council recorded a failure of conciliation on 30 December 2013. Thereafter, by an order dated 13 February 2014, the Facilitation Council upheld the contention of the respondents and directed that the petitioner should place its version before the sole arbitrator in terms of the rate contract agreement. 5. The submission which has been urged on behalf of the petitioner is that once the petitioner had invoked the provisions of the 2006 Act, the Facilitation Council was conferred with the exclusive jurisdiction under Section 18 to enter upon the dispute and to initially conduct the conciliation proceedings. Moreover, once the conci ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... encompassing both industrial units and related service entities. The world over, the emphasis has now been shifted from industries to enterprises . Added to this, a growing need is being felt to extend policy support for the small enterprises so that they are enable to grow into medium ones, adopt better and higher levels of technology and achieve higher productivity to remain competitive in a fast globalisation area. Thus, as in most developed and many developing countries, it is necessary, that in India too, the concerns of the entire small and medium enterprises sector are addressed and the sector is provided with a single legal framework. As of now, the medium industry or enterprise is not even defined in any law. 2. In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the Bill aims at facilitating the promotion and development and enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises and seeks to-- (a) provide for statutory definitions of small enterprise and medium enterprise; (b) provide for the establishment of a National Board for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, a high-level forum consisting of stakeholders for participative review of and making recomm ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ct: 18. Reference to Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council.--(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, any party to a dispute may, with regard to any amount due under Section 17, make a reference to the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council. (2) On receipt of a reference under sub-section (1), the Council shall either itself conduct conciliation in the matter or seek the assistance of any institution or centre providing alternate dispute resolution services by making a reference to such an institution or centre, for conducting conciliation and the provisions of Sections 65 to 81 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (26 of 1996) shall apply to such a dispute as if the conciliation was initiated under Part III of that Act. (3) Where the conciliation initiated under sub-section (2) is not successful and stands terminated without any settlement between the parties, the Council shall either itself take up the dispute for arbitration or refer it to any institution or centre providing alternate dispute resolution services for such arbitration and the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r the time being in force, the Facilitation Council or the Centre providing alternate dispute resolution services shall have jurisdiction to act as an arbitrator or Conciliator under this section in a dispute between a supplier located within its jurisdiction and a buyer located anywhere in India. 11. The petitioner invoked the provisions of the 2006 Act by filing a reference to the Facilitation Council on 3 October 2011. There was undoubtedly a dispute between the petitioner and the respondents in regard to the claim of the petitioner arising out of non payment of its bills. The respondents appointed a sole arbitrator on 5 October 2011 after the petitioner had invoked the intervention of the Facilitation Council on 3 October 2011 under Section 18 of the 2006 Act. Once the jurisdiction of the Facilitation Council has been validly invoked, the Council has exclusive jurisdiction to enter upon conciliation in the first instance and after conciliation has ended in failure, to refer the parties to arbitration. The Facilitation Council could either have conducted the arbitration itself or could have referred the parties to a centre or institution providing alternate dispute resolution ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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