In Brief
A charitable trust challenged the appointment of an arbitrator under the Arbitration Act to resolve a dispute with a developer regarding a 38-year lease of its property. The lease deed was insufficiently stamped, and the court-appointed Registrar determined the respondents owed Rs. 1,01,56,388 in deficit stamp duty and penalty, which they failed to pay. The Supreme Court held that an arbitration clause in an improperly stamped document cannot be enforced unless the deficit duty and penalty are first paid. Since the respondents did not comply with the Registrar's directive, the High Court erred in appointing the arbitrator. The appeal was allowed and the arbitrator's appointment was quashed.
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