Court No. - 36
Case :- WRIT - A No. - 6127 of 2021 Petitioner :- Mahesh Kumar Singh and 42 Others Respondent :- Union Of India Through Secretary And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ali Qambar Zaidi Counsel for Respondent :- A.S.G.I.,Diptiman Singh
Hon'ble Mahesh Chandra Tripathi,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioners, Shri Vinay Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the Union of India and Shri Diptiman Singh, learned counsel for the contesting respondents.
Present writ petition is preferred by the petitioners seeking following reliefs:-
"I. Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari or any other appropriate writ order or direction thereby quashing the impugned communication dated 26.02.2021 sent by respondent no.4 contained in Annexure No.1 wherein the respondent institute has refused to act upon the letter requesting reference to arbitration;
II. Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus thereby directing respondents no.2-4 to refer the dispute of the petitioners' for arbitration in a collective manner i.e. all petitioners may be referred to arbitration through a single application/representation in spirit of the liberty granted by this Hon'ble Court in Writ A No.14208/2020.
III. Issue a writ, order or direction thereby restraining the respondents to effectuate the recruitment process/filling of the advertised posts pursuant to the advertisement dated 13.03.2021 till the time arbitration proceedings are concluded with respect to all the petitioners in the present petition;"
Shri Diptiman Singh, learned counsel for the contesting respondents has vehemently opposed the writ petition and submitted that the relief, as has been prayed for, cannot be accorded by this Court under Article 226 of Constitution of India and while passing the order impugned, the competent authority has refused to act upon the letter requesting reference to arbitration collectively and in case the petitioners approach individually, then arbitration clause can be invoked. The said view is sustainable in view of law laid down by the Apex Court in the case of Duro Felguera, S.A. v. Gangavaram Port Limited (2017) 9 SCC 729 (paragraph-55).
Once this Court has declined to interfere in the order impugned then learned counsel for the petitioners fairly states that in case the leave is accorded by this Court, then definitely the petitioners would invoke the remedy individually, as available in law.
In the facts and circumstances, the writ petition is disposed of with observation that in case the petitioners move applications individually requesting for reference to arbitration individually within four weeks from today, the authority would proceed further in accordance with law.
The party shall file computer generated copy of such order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad, self attested by the petitioners alongwith a self attested identity proof of the said person (preferably Aadhar Card) mentioning the mobile number to which the said Aadhar Card is linked.
The concerned Court/Authority/Official shall verify the authenticity of such computerized copy of the order from the official website of High Court Allahabad and shall make a declaration of such verification in writing.
Order Date :- 19.5.2021 RKP Digitally signed by Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi Date: 2021.05.21 09:10:48 IST Reason: Document Owner Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad