Bombay High Court

PANDURANG NARAYAN TAPKIRversusM/S BALASAHEB BABANRAO SHIRKE

Decided: 12 June 2026
Disposal: Disposed Off
Bench: JITENDRA SHANTILAL JAIN

Holding

Mr. Abhiraj S. Kulkarni, Advocate, is appointed as the sole arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes.

Summary

The petitioners Prasad Pandurang Tapkir and Pandurang Narayan Tapkir filed arbitration petitions under Section 11 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 seeking the appointment of an arbitrator and the deletion of certain respondents. The respondents argued that the partnership firm had dissolved and therefore the arbitration clause in the 1991 partnership deed might no longer be operative. The Court noted that the existence and enforceability of the arbitration agreement were factual issues to be decided by the arbitrator, and therefore ordered the appointment of Mr. Abhiraj S. Kulkarni as sole arbitrator. The Court directed the parties to communicate with the arbitrator, provide contact details, and follow procedural steps including disclosure statements under the Act. All costs were to be borne equally unless altered by the arbitral award, and the petitions were disposed without any substantive ruling on the merits.

Issues considered

Whether respondents No.6 to No.8 can be deleted from the arbitration petition
Whether a valid arbitration agreement exists despite the dissolution of the partnership firm
Appointment of a sole arbitrator under Section 11 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996

Legislation cited

Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 — s. 11, 11(8), 12(1)

Subjects

Arbitration
Arbitration Agreement
Section 11
Partnership Deed
Appointment of Arbitrator
Cost Allocation
Procedural Order

Judgment

Sneha Bang 909.ARP-52-2026.doc

Digitally
signed by
SNEHA IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
SNEHA JAYPRAKASH
JAYPRAKASH BANG
BANG Date:
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
2026.06.12
18:18:05
+0530

ARBITRATION PETITION NO. 52 OF 2026

Prasad Pandurang Tapkir …. Petitioner

Versus

Sudha Balasaheb Shirke & Ors. .… Respondents

WITH
ARBITRATION PETITION NO. 75 OF 2026

Pandurang Narayan Tapkir …. Petitioner

Versus

M/s. Balasaheb Babanrao Shirke …. Respondent
__________________________________________________________________

Mr. Rahul Shivaji Kadam a/w. Vedant Babar for Petitioner.
Radhika S. Navandar for Respondent.
__________________________________________________________________

CORAM : JITENDRA JAIN, J.
DATED : 12th JUNE 2026

P. C. :

1. Learned counsel for the petitioner in arbitration petition no.52 of
2026 seeks deletion of respondent no.6 to respondent no.8 with liberty to
make appropriate application before the arbitrator for adding any new
respondent.

2. Both these petitions are filed under Section 11 of the Arbitration &
Conciliation Act, 1996 for appointment of Arbitrator. As per the Partnership
Deed dated 11th November, 1991, the Arbitration agreement is at Clause 16.
The learned counsel for the respondent submits that since the firm has
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dissolved long back, there is no arbitration agreement today. This issue will
be examined by the learned arbitrator.

3. Admittedly, there are disputes between the parties which needs to be
resolved.

4. Therefore, in view of above, Mr. Abhiraj Kulkarni, Advocate who is
practicing at Pune is appointed as Arbitrator for resolving the dispute
between the parties. All the contentions of both the parties are kept open
including whether the dispute is covered by arbitration agreement and
whether there is an arbitration agreement or not.

5. The parties are at liberty to raise all the contentions before the
learned Arbitrator.

6. In these circumstances, the petition is finally disposed of in terms of
the following order :-

A) Mr. Abhiraj S. Kulkarni, Advocate, is hereby
appointed as Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate upon the
dispute and differences between the parties arising
out of and in connection with the agreement
referred to above.

Office address : Office No.2, 2nd Floor, Sai Krupa
Apartments Opp. Same Dairy
Bhandarkar Road, Pune-411004.

Email ID : [email protected]

Contact No. : 8975125900
7. .
B) A copy of this Order will be communicated to the
Learned Sole Arbitrator by the Advocates for the
Petitioner within a period of one week from the
date of upload of this order. The petitioner shall

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provide the contact and communication particulars
of the parties to the Arbitral Tribunal along with a
copy of this Order;

C) The Learned Sole Arbitrator is requested to
forward the statutory Statement of Disclosure
under Section 11(8) read with Section 12(1) of the
Act to the parties within a period of two weeks
from receipt of a copy of this Order;
D) The parties shall appear before the Learned Sole
Arbitrator on such date and at such place as
indicated, to obtain appropriate directions with
regard to conduct of the arbitration including
fixing a schedule for pleadings, examination of
witnesses, if any, schedule of hearings etc. At such
meeting, the parties shall provide a valid and
functional email address along with mobile and
landline numbers of the respective Advocates of
the parties to the Arbitral Tribunal.
Communications to such email addresses shall
constitute valid service of correspondence in
connection with the arbitration;

E) All arbitral costs and fees of the Arbitral Tribunal
shall be borne by the parties equally in the first
instance, and shall be subject to any final Award
that may be passed by the Tribunal in relation to
costs.

8. Needless to say, nothing contained in this order is an expression of an
opinion on merits of the matter or the relative strength of the parties. All
issues on merits are expressly kept open to be agitated before the arbitral
tribunal appointed hereby.

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9. All actions required to be taken pursuant to this order shall be taken
upon receipt of a downloaded copy as available on the Court’s website.

10. The Arbitrator would charge according to Schedule 4 or if the
Arbitrator feels that Schedule 4 is not acceptable then as per the agreement
between the Arbitrator and the parties.

11. Both the petitions are disposed of.

[ JITENDRA JAIN, J. ]

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