THE UNION OF INDIA vs KISHORILAL GUPTA AND BROS.

The Supreme Court held that the arbitration clauses in the original contracts were not abrogated by the subsequent settlement contracts, which were valid and represented the parties' common intention to substitute them for the earlier agreements. The Court found that the third settlement contract did not extinguish the arbitration clause, thus allowing the appellant to refer the disputes to arbitration. The High Court's decision to set aside the award was overturned, affirming the validity of the arbitration award under the original contracts.