When Appellant appeared before the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council in the conciliation proceeding and denied the claim, the award passed under Section 18(3) of MSMED Act cannot be challenged under Article 226 on the ground that the conciliation was not conducted in accordance with the prescribed procedure – AES India (Pvt.) Ltd. Vs. State of Odisha and Ors. – Orissa High Court
The appellant had appeared before the Council in the conciliation proceeding, completely denying the claim of the respondent and had asserted to the extent of saying that it sought to abuse the beneficial legislation i.e. MSMED Act and sought to unjustly enrich itself at the cost of the appellant. Taking into account the rival stands by the parties, the Council had terminated the conciliation process under Section 18(2) of the MSMED Act on 17.11.2022. The appellant participated in the arbitration proceeding, as is evident from the impugned award made by the Council. From the award, it does not appear that the appellant ever raised any issue of non-compliance of the requirement under Section 18(2) of the MSMED Act read with the provisions under Part-III of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.