MAHAVIR DEVELOPERS AND 10 ORS. vs MAHAVIR JAINA VIDYALAYA AND 6 ORS.

Judgment text excerpt

CARBP.128.2023.Final.doc IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION PETITION NO.128 OF 2023 Shri Mahavir Developers & 10 Ors. ….Petitioners Versus Shri Mahavir Jaina Vidyalaya & 6 Ors. ….Respondents Mr. Darius Khambata, Senior Advocate a/w. Ish Jain, Rajan Yadav, Karan Rukhana, Aditya Pimple, Duj Jain, Krishma Shah, Naomi Ting, Deep Thakkar, i/b Kiran Jain & Co., for Petitioners. Mr. Dinyar Madan, Senior Advocate a/w Ieshan Sinha, Dhruvi Mehta & Yajas Achal, i/b Wadia Ghandy & Co. for Respondent Nos. 1 to 5. CORAM : SOMASEKHAR SUNDARESAN, J. RESERVED ON : March 16, 2026 PRONOUNCED ON : April 6, 2026 JUDGEMENT: Context and Factual Background: 1. This is a Petition filed under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“the Act”) challenging an Arbitral Award dated October 1, 2019, as modified further on October 17, 2019 passed by a Learned Arbitral Tribunal comprising a sole arbitrator ( “Impugned Digitally signed by Award”). AARTI AARTI GAJANAN GAJANAN PALKAR Page 1 of 30 PALKAR Date: 2026.04.06 15:37:56 APRIL 6 , 2026 +0530 Aarti Palkar CARBP.128.2023.Final.doc 2. Petitioner No.1, Shri Mahavir Developers (“Developer”) along with its Partners, Petitioner Nos.2 to 11 are aggrieved by the Impugned Award, which holds in favour of Respondent No. 1, Shri Mahavir Jaina Vidyalaya, a Public Charitable Trust (“Trust”) of which, Respondent Nos.2 to 5 are Trustees (“Trustees”). Respondent No.6 and 7 are former Partners of the Developer. 3. The Developer and the Trustees had executed a Memorandum of Understanding dated April 9, 2005 ( “MOU”) followed by a Development Agreement dated April 30, 2007 ( “Development Agreement”), by which, development rights were granted to the Developer over property owned by the