A failure to exercise a jurisdiction vested in Arbitrator is amount to a patent illegality, the award is liable to be set aside on this ground alone – Shri Gopal Singh Thakur Vs. Smt. Sarla Devi – Himachal Pradesh High Court
In the present case, the jurisdiction was vested in the Arbitrator by the mutual arrangement made between the parties before this Court vide which the parties agreed to refer the dispute in the suit as well as all the disputes connected therewith between the parties. Since the dispute regarding the enjoyment of the land was pending between the parties and one of the parties had sought partition of the land; therefore, the Arbitrator has the jurisdiction to hear the question of partition but he refused to do so by saying that the dispute was regarding the injunction and not regarding the partition. This was a failure to exercise a jurisdiction vested in the learned Arbitrator which amounts to a patent illegality. Thus, the award is liable to be set aside on this ground alone.
