9911796707
TMI Blog2002 (4) TMI 1005X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ppellant in pursuance of the contract submitted the design of said plant and started execution of the said work, However, the work could not be completed within the time stipulated between the parties and a dispute arose between them. According to the appellant, she could not complete the work within the specified period because of the default on the part of respondents, e.g. delay in approval of the design, delayed payment of running bills to her etc., as per the agreement. According to the appellant, she completed the work originally assigned to her, as well as some additional work and informed respondent No. 4 that a pump including ancillaries has to be installed to draw water. However, the respondents did not take necessary steps to do so. Thereafter, the respondents invited tender for the remaining work of Water Treatment Plant, vide publication in daily newspaper 'Nav Bharat' dt. 18-1-2002 (Annexure A-8). The respondents as per letter dt. 4-2-2002 (Annexure A-9) also intimated the appellant that she could not complete the work as per schedule upto 28-2-2001, hence the balance work was proposed to be executed at the risk and cost of appellant. In response to the said l ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ngs. It was therefore submitted that the trial Court rightly held it to be 'Works Contract'. The basic question that deserves consideration in this appeal is; as to whether the jurisdiction of the Civil Court to entertain application under Section 9 of the Act is barred? It may be noticed that the provisions of the Act are applicable in cases of disputes referable to arbitration. Section 9 thereof provides : A party may, before or during arbitral proceedings or at any time after the making of the arbitral award but before it is enforced in accordance with Section 36, apply to a Court- (i) for the appointment of a guardian for a minor or a person of unsound mind for the purposes of arbitral proceedings; or (ii) for an interim measure of protection in respect of any of the following matters, namely : (a) the preservation, interim custody or sale of any goods which are the subject-matter of the arbitration agreement; (b) securing the amount in dispute in the arbitration; (c) detention, preservation or inspection of any property or thing which is the subject-matter of the dispute in arbitration or as to which any question may arise therein and authorising for any of the aforesa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nt in writing for the execution of any work as specified in the said provision. Learned counsel for appellant has submitted that the use of word 'means' in Clause (i) of Section 2 of Adhiniyam, clearly indicates that the definition is a hard and fast definition and therefore except for the works specified in the said clause, no other work could be treated as 'Works Contract'. In other words the said definition excludes all other works, which are not specified in the said definition. Learned counsel for appellant in the above context referred to P. Kasilingam v. P. S.G. College of Technology, AIR 1995 SC 1395 wherein, it has been observed that the use of word 'means' indicates that the definition is a hard and fast definition and no other meaning can be assigned to the expression than is put down in definition. In Punjab Land Development and Reclamation Corporation Ltd. Chandigarh v. Presiding Officer, Labour Court Chandigarh (1990) 3 SCC 682 it has been observed by the Apex Court that a definition is an explicit statement of full connotation of a term. It has further been observed that when a statute says that a word or phrase shall 'mean' --certain ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Black's Law Dictionary and it has been stated therein that the word 'any' has a diversity of meaning and may be employed to indicate 'all' or 'every' as well as 'some' or 'one' and its meaning in a given statute depends upon the context and subject matter of statute. It is often synonymous with 'either', 'every' or 'all'. The Supreme Court in Lucknow Development Authority v. M. K. Gupta AIR 1994 SC 787 had considered the meaning and purport of word 'any' in the context of Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and has quoted the above definition of the said word in Black's Law Dictionary and has observed that its meaning in a given statute depends upon the context and subject matter of the statute. In the instant case, it is clear that the word 'any' in Section 2(i) of the Adhiniyam appears to have a very wide spectrum, because it relates to the execution of any work relating to construction, repairs or maintenance of 'any' building or superstructure, tank, canal, reservoir, etc. The repetition of word 'any' in the said definition prior to the word 'work' as well as before the nat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
