R.P. Kapur Union of India and Anr. [1964] I would therefore dismiss the appeal. ORDER In accordance with the opinion of the majority the appeal is allowed with costs in this Court and
in the High Court. JIVARAJBHAI UJAMSHI SHETH AND OTHERS Nov.19 v. CHINTAMANRAO BALAJI AND OTHERS (A.K. SARKAR, M. HIDAYATULLAH AND J.C. SHAH, JJ.) Arbitration-Partnership Agreement-Arbitration clause-For-
mula of valuation on dissolution-Arbitrator appointed by deed of reference-Validity of award questioned-Grounds on which award can be set aside-Error apparent on the face of 1he records- Arbitrator exceeding jurisdiction-Validity of Award-Severability- Indian Arbitration Act, 1940 (X of 1940), s. 30.
The appellants and the respondents entered into a partnership in the business of manufacturing bidis. Under the agreement a partner was entitled to retire after giving notice of six months to all partners. It contained a clause for reference of disputes between the partners relating to the business or dissolution of the firm to arbitration. It also contained a clause providing how four items including goodwill should be valued.
According to this clause goodwill was equal to five years net profits for, debts due to the firm were to be taken not at their book value but at 85 % of that value, stocks of raw materials were to be valued at book value and immovable properties were to be valued at their purchase price or their book value. About two years later the appellants desired to retire from the partnership and a deed of reference was executed and a sole arbitrator was appointed. This provided that the remaining partners shall continue the firm and they shall make full payment to the retiring partners of such amounts in such manner and on such conditions as shall be de- cided upon by the arbitrator. The arbitrator gave the award. He fixed the value of the goodwill of the firm at Rs.32 lakhs including in that amount the "depreciation and appreciation of the property, dead stock and dues to be recovered." The award was filed in the Court under s. 14(2) of the Indian Arbitration Act, 1940. SS.C.R.
The respondents applied for an order setting aside the award on diverse grounds, two out of which survived for consideration in the present appeal. The first was that the arbitrator in making this award exceeded his jurisdiction because in fixing Rs. 32 lt khs as the value of t.he devisable assets of the firm he included therein the depreciation and appreciation of the property dead stock Jivara}bhai
Ujamshi Sheth and others and outstandings; secondly that the .arbitrator was guilty of mis- v. conduct. The trial court upheld these and certain other objections Chintamanrao and set aside the award. The High Court confirmed the decision Balaji and otherJ of the trial court insofar as it related to the two contentions. The present appeal is on a certificate granted by the High Court. Held:
(i) An award made by an arbitrator is conclusive as a judgment between the parties and the court is entitled to set aside an award if the arbitrator has misconducted himself in the proceeding or when the award has been made after the issue of an order by the Court superseding the arbitration or after arbit- ration proceedings have become invalid under s. 35 of the Arbit- ration Act or where an award has been improperly procured or is otherwise invalid under s. 30 of the Act. An award may be set aside by the Court on the ground of error on the face of the award, but an award is not invalid merely because by a process of inference and argument it may be demonstrated that the arbi- trator has committed some mistake in arriving at his conclusion. Champsey Bhara and Company v. Jivraj Balloo Spinning and
Weaving Company Ltd., L.R. 50 I.A. 324 and Cruikshank and others v. Sutherland and others, (1923) L.J. Ch. 136, distinguished. (ii) It is not open to the Court to speculate, where no reasons are given by the arbitrator, as to what impelled the arbitrator to arrive at his conclusions.
(iii) In the present case the arbitrator ·had included deprecia- tion and appreciation of certain assets in the value of the goodwill which he was incompetent to include by virtue of the limits placed upon his authority by the deed of reference. This was not a case in which the arbitrator has committed an error of fact or law in reaching his conclusions on the disputed questions submitted for adjudication. It was a case of assumption of jurisdiction not possessed by him and that rendered the award to the extent to which it was beyond the arbitrators' jurisdiction, invalid. It is, however, impossible to sever from the valuation madf by the arbitrator the value of the. depreciation and appreciation included by the arbitrator. The award must therefore fail in its entirety. Per Hidayatullah, J.-(i) If the parties set limits to action by the arbitrator, then the arbitrator had to follow the limits set for him and the court can find that he exceeded his jurisdiction on proof of such excess.
(ii) In the present case the arbitrator in working out net profits for four years took into account depreciation of immovablo lfSCif64-31 Jivarajbhai Ujamshi Sheth and others [1964]
property. For this reason he must be held to have exceeded his jurisdiction and it is not a question of his having merely in- terpreted the partnership agreement for himself as to which the Civil Court could have had no say, unless there was an error of law on the face of the award.
v. CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal Chintamanrao No. 717 of 1963. Balaji and others Shah J. Appeal from the judgment and order dated April 30, 1962, of the Madhya Pradesh High Court
at Jabalpur in Misc. Appeal No. 75 of 1961. S.T. Desai and l.N. Shroff, for the appellants. G.S. Pathak and Remeshwar Nath, for respondents Nos. I to 3. A. V. Viswanatha Sastri and Remeshwar Nath,
for respondents nos. 4 and 5. November 19, 1963. The Judgment of A.K. Sarkar and J.C. Shah, JJ. was delivered by Shah, J. M. Hidayatullah, J. delivered a separate Opinion. SHAH, J.-Vrajlal Manila! & Company, a firm
consisting originally of four partners (1) Manila! Anandji, (2) Jivrajbhai Ujamshi Sheth, (3) Punjabhai S. Patel, and ( 4) Chintamanrao, has been doing business of manufacturing bidis at Sagar and Delhi
since 1944. From time to time fresh partnership deeds were executed readjusting the shares of the partners admitting new partners and adjusting the shares of the partners. Jn 1954 Manila! Anandji
retired from the firm and on January 27, 1955, Punjabhai S. Patel died. On February 16, 1956, a fresh deed of partnership was executed. The firm then consisted of eight partners_:.Jivraj and his two sons being entitled in
the aggregate to annas -/4/3 share in a rupee in the profits, Chintamanrao and his two sons to annas -/7/6 share in a rupee, and the two sons of Punjabhai S. Patel to the remaining annas -/4/3 share. By
paragraph-7 the books of account were to be maintained by the managing partner, the financial year of the firm SS.C.R. being from Diwali to Diwali, and profits and losses were to be ascertained at the close of the year and
a copy of the balance-sheet with profits and loss Jivarajbhai statement was to be supplied to each partner, and Ujamshi Sheth if no objection regarding the accounts was raised and others
within four months from the end of the year, the . v. accounts were to be deemed conclusive and binding Chmtamanrao unless vitiated by fraud. By paragraph-12 it wasBalaii and others
stipulated that a partner desiring to retire from the partnership may, unless the other partners agreed to his retirement otherwise, do so after giving six months notice to all the partners in writing terminable at the
end of the year i.e., the Diwali immediately following the date of the notice. Paragraph-13 provided: "In case of retirement of any partner the valua- tion of the Firm will be made on the following
basis for the purpose of settling the account of the retiring partner:- "(a) Goodwill of the Firm:·-That is, right to use the trade marks, trade labels and the name of the Firm. In making the valuation of the above the
net profits of the last five years will be taken as the value of the Goodwill of the Firm. (b) Outstandings, Udhari (Recoveries) :-That is, loans and debts outstanding against persons other than partner will be calcula-
ted at 85 % of the book value of the Firm. (c) Stock of Raw Materials :-That is, tobacco, bidis, bidi leaves, labels and other moveable property will be valued at the book value of these in the books of the Firm and all
such stock and moveables, thus valued shall be given to the remaining partners. (d) Immoveable Property:-Such as buildings, godowns, gardens, lands etc. will be valued at the purchase price or their book value
in the books of the Firm as the case may be, and all these shall be given to the remaining partners." Shah J. Jivarajbhai Ujamshi Sheth [1964] Paragraph-16 incorporated a clause for reference of
disputes between the partners relating to the business or dissolution of the firm to arbitration. and others In April 1958 Jivraj and his two sons –appellants v. in this appeal desired to retire from the partnership,
Chintamanrao and a deed of reference was executed on April 16, Ba/aji and othas 1958, appointing Ambalal Ashabhai, Becharbhai Soma- bhai and Chaturbhuj Jasani as arbitrators to decide
Shah J. the dispute. It was recited in the deed of reference that since Jivraj and his two sons had expressed a desire· to retire and the remaining five partners had agreed to take over the entire business of the firm,
it was "necessary to effect the final account of the retiring partners with regard to the matters mentioned below, as far possible, according to and taking into consideration the terms and conditions of the Part-
nership Agreement. !. Goodwill of Trade Mark. 2. Property. 3. Credits (Udhari) 4. Dead-stock. 5. Stock-in-trade i.e. the raw material or the finished goods invested in the business.
6. Other matters connected with these transac- tions. 7. Profit and Loss Account. 8. The Receipt ond Payments account of the amounts of the partners. By paragraph 6 it was provided that the firm shall
be continued by the remainin6 five partners and that those five partners shall make full payment to the retiring partners Jivraj and his two sons of such am- ounts, in such manner, and on such conditions, as
shall be decided upon by the arbitrators. Paragraph 7 set out the powers exercisab'e by the arbitrators in the matter of calling for production of account books and documents and other information from the parties.
The deed of reference was subsequently modi- fied, and the parties agreed that the reference be 5 S.C.R. "carried out by the sole arbitrator Shri Jasani". Pursuant to this modified agreement, J asani entered
upon the reference, and made his award on January Jivarajbhai 9, 1959. By his award he fixed the value of the good- Ujamshi Sheth will of the entire firm at Rs. 32 lakhs including in
and others that amount the "depreciation and appreciation of . v. the property, dead-stock and dues to be recovered". Chz~tamanrao He also fixed the profits for the broken period of Ba/OJz and others Samvat year 2014 from the commencement of the
year till April 19, 1958 at Rs. 2,80,000 and after ad- Shah 1· justing the personal accounts of the three retiring partners awarded to Jivraj Rs. 3,46,223.58 nP. to Amritlal son of Jivraj Rs. 4,04,519.99 nP. and to
Bhagwandas son of Jlvraj Rs. 3,86,019.14 nP, and directed that the ownership over the assets of the firm i.e. property-moveable and immoveable,-Trade mark, labels, stock-in-trade, long-term leases and
contracts etc. shall remain with the remaining part- ners, subject to the liabilities of the firm, the retiring partners not being responsible for the liabilities of the firm, nor having any interest in the firm or its
business. This award was filed in the Court of the Additional District Judge, Sagar, under s. 14(2) of the Indian Arbitration Act, 1940. Chintamanrao and his sons then applied for an
order setting aside the award on diverse grounds. In this appeal by the retiring partners, two heads of objections only ,survive for determination and we propose to refer only to those two heads, viz:
(I) That the arbitrator in making his award travelled outside his jurisdiction delimited by the agreement of reference in that in fixing Rs. 32 lakhs as the value of the di- visible assets of the firm he included therein
the depreciation and appreciation of the property, dead-stock and outstandings, which he was by the terms of the reference incom- petent to include. (2) That the arbitrator was guilty of legal mis-
conduct in that he had in the course of arbitration proceedings admitted in his record Jivarajbhai Ujamshi Sheth and others [1964] a statement of account prepared by Jivraj and his sons without the knowledge of the
other partners and without giving them an opportunity to make their submissions thereto. Ch. 1v. The retiring partners resisted the petition to set B 1 '.~ a~an;; 0 aside the award and submitted that they were entitled
a a1z an ° ers to have the assets of the firm in which they had a Shah J. share, fixed at an amount much in excess of Rs. 32 lakhs and that the arbitrator had not overstepped his jurisdiction in fixing the value of the goodwill
at Rs. 32 lakhs, and that the statement of account referred to by the applicants was prepared under the directions of the arbitrator and in his presence and it was admitted in the record of the arbitrator
to the knowledge of the remaining partners who had assented thereto. The Trial Court upheld these and certain other objections, and set aside the award. The High Court confirmed the decision of the Trial Court,
insofar as it related to the two objections herein- before set out. The question which we propose to consider first is: whether in making the "valuation of the firm" for determining the share to be paid to the retiring
partners, did the arbitrator overstep the limits of his authority under the agreement of reference? It may be recalled that by cl. 6 of the arbitration agreement the remaining partners had to "make full payment to
the retiring partners of such amount as may be decided" by the arbitrator. But in determining the amounts to be awarded to the retiring partners, the authority of the arbitrator was restricted. He had, in determin-
ing the amounts due to the retiring partners, to take "final accounts with regard to the matters" set out in cl. 4, "as far as possible, according to and taking into consideration the terms and conditions of the
Partnership agreement". By this direction the clauses of the partnership agreement were incorporated in the agreement of reference. The "final account" of the retiring partners with regard to the eight matters
5 S.C.R. specified in cl. 4 was undoubtedly to be made, as far as possible, according to and taking into consi- deration the terms and conditions of the partnership Jivarajbhai agreement. The language used in the deed of re- Ujamshi Sheth ference is of compulsion, not of option: it means
and others that if there be in the partnership agreement any term v · or condition, which deals with any particular matter Chintamanrao of which an account was to be taken under cl. 4 of the Ba/aji and others agreement of reference, it has to be strictly followed.
Use of the expression "as far as possible" did not confer any discretion upon the arbitrator to ignore the terms and conditions of the partnership agreement. In paragraph-13 of the partnership agreement, in
making "valuation of the firm" for the purpose of settling accounts, the value of the goodwill, the out- standings, stock of raw material and moveable and immoveable property had to be taken as directed
therein. In the matter of valuation of the goodwill of the firm, therefore, no discretion was left to the arbitrator: the value of the goodwill had to be the aggregate of the net profits of the last five years. Debts due to the firm from persons other than partners
had to be "calculated at 85 % of the book value of the firm". In respect of the stock of raw materials and other moveable property the "book value in the books of the firm" had to be accepted by the ar-
bitrator and in the case of immoveable property such as buildings, godowns, gardens, lands etc. "the book value in the books of the firm" was to be accepted and if none such was available the purchase price
as mentioned in the books was to be accepted. In all these matters the arbitrator had by cl. 4 of the arbitration agreement to make the final account of the retiring partners according to and taking into
consideration the terms and conditions of the partner- ship agreement and had no option. It is necessary to remember that the partnership agreement does not grant to a retiring partner a share
in the aggregate of the four items mentioned in els. (a), (b), (c) & (d) of paragraph-13 i.e., goodwill of the firm, outstandings, stock of raw materials including Shah J. [1964] moveable and immoveable property. The partnership
agreement merely provides that the "valuation of the Jivarajbhai firm" shall be made as set out therein for the purpose Ujamshi Sheth of settling the account of the retiring partners i.e., and others
in ascertaining the amount due to the retiring partners v. valuation of the assets in els. (a) to (d) ofparagraph-13 Chintamanrao shall be made in the manner set out therein. The Balaji and others arbitrator was therefore bound to adopt the valua- tion prescribed by the partnership agreement, but
Shah 1·, that is not to say that the retiring partner was entitled to a share equal to the aggregate of the values of the four items mentioned in paragraph-13. It is neces- sary to emphasize this matter because on behalf of
the retiring partners a considerable argument was ad- vanced before us on the assumption that they were entitled to a share equal to the aggregate of the values of the four items of property mentioned in paragraph-13
of the partnership agreement, and that by the method of valuation adopted by the arbitrator they were awarded much less than what they were under the partnership agreement entitled to. Paragraph-13 mere-
ly prescribes the valuation in respect of four out of the items which had to be considered in ascertaining the "valuation of the firm". The phraseology used in paragraph-13 in the opening part of the paragraph
makes it clear beyond all doubt that the valuation of the firm had to be made on the basis specified for the purpose of settling the account of the retiring partner. The specific items in paragraph-13 do
not prescribe any method of valuation of the debts and liabilities of the firm, but the debts and liabilities must be taken into account in assessing the value of the share of the retiring partners. The arbitrator
had to make a valuation of the firm i.e. of all the assets of the firm and of the debts due by the firm and there- after to settle the account of the retiring partners. We may now turn to the award made by the
arbitrator. The dispute between the farties has to be resolved on a true interpretation o the following clause: "I assess the value of the goodwill at Rs. 32 lakhs. 5S.C.R. This amount includes the depreciation
and appreciation of the property, dead-stock and dues to be recovered." (We have taken this as the correct rendering into English of the original award which is in Hindi. It is accepted by both the parties before us as a true
rendering.) The arbitrator has, as he has observed in his award, taken only the value of the goodwill, in deter- mining the amounts to be allotted to the retiring partners, and has not expressly referred to the valua-
tion of the three other items, viz., the outstandings, the stock-in-trade and moveables and the immoveable property mentioned in paragraph-13 of the part- nership agreement. Counsel for the retiring partners
urged that on the admission made by Chintamanrao, the value of the goodwill alone was Rs. 21,70,650/10/- and if the value of the immoveables, stock-in-trade etc. and outstandings be added thereto, the aggregate
would considerably exceed Rs. 32 lakhs. But this argument is founded on the fallacious assumption that the debts and Uabilities of the firm have to be ignored in determining the shares of the retiring partners.
Counsel for the respondent submitted that in substance the goodwill had alone to be valued by the arbitrator for the property, moveable and immoveable, stock- in-trade and the outstandings of the firm were appro-
ximately equal to the aggregate of the debts and obligations of the firm. Reliance in thfa behalf was placed upon a balance-sheet Ext. A-13 of the assets and liabilities of the firm, showing the financial
position of the firm on April 16, 1958, and the value of the tangible assets, such as the stock of raw-materials, moveable and immoveable property and outstandings, according to the balance-sheet, was approximately
equal to the debts and liabilities of the firm. But It is not necessary for us to decide whether the submission of the respondents is correct. The arbitrator has in his award stated that Rs. 32 lakhs is
the value of the goodwill alone, and for some reason not disclosed by him he has not valued the other Ji varajbhai Ujamshi Sheth and others v. Chintamanrao Ba/aji and other Shah J.
[1964] assets. He has also not disclosed in his award how he has arrived at the valuation of Rs. 32 lakhs. One Jivarajbhai thing, however, stands out prominently in the award, r.Jjamshi Sheth that in assessing the value of the goodwill, he has and others
included the depreciation and appreciation of the v. property, dead-stock and the outstandings. The Chintamanrao arbitrator could undoubtedly make a lump-sum valua- Balaji and others tion of the firm in the award made by him. He was not obliged in the absence of a direction in that
Shah J. behalf to set out in his award the valuation of the different components which aggregated to the lump- sum. The arbitrator had to "value the firm", and in doing so to abide by the specific directions, but
he was not obliged to set out in the award separate valuations of all or any of the items mentioned in para 4 of the deed of reference, or in paragraph-13 of the partnership agreement, nor to set out the extent
of the debts and obligations assessed by him. What then is the effect of the inclusion by the arbitrator in the valuation of Rs. 32 lakhs, of the depreciation and appreciation of the property, dead-
stock and dues to be recovered? Diverse arguments were submitted by counsel for the appellants in support of the plea that the inclusion of what is called the depreciation and appreciation in respect of the various
items does not amount to overstepping the limits of the jurisdiction of the arbitrator. It may be re- iterated that the powers of the arbitrator were, by the terms of cl. 4 of the deed of reference, clearly restric-
ted. He was "to take final account of the retiring partners with regard to the matters mentioned therein, as far as possible, according to and taking into con- sideration the terms and conditions of the partnership
agreement''. Restriction on the power of the ar- bitrator in valuing the property, dead-stock and out- standings was explicit. He could not therefore adopt any valuation different from the valuation prescribed
by paragraph-13 of the partnership agreement. But the arbitrator has, as he has himself stated, in valuing the goodwill at Rs. 32 lakhs included in that amount the value of the depreciation and appreciation of
the property, dead-stock and dues to be recovered. …. 5S.C.R. Counsel for the appellant submitted that reduc- tion of outstandings of the firm by 15 % in respect of the dues from persons other than the partners
Jivarajbhai was a mode of ascertaining the depreciation in res- U}amshi Sheth pect of that item provided by cl. (b) of paragraph-13 and others of the partnership agreement, and the arbitrator in
v. taking into consideration that depreciation has not Chintamanrao acted outside his jurisdiction. It would be difficultBa/aji and others. to regard the method of valuation as prescribed in
respect of the outstandings as "including depreciation". Even assuming that the reduction of the outstandings of the firm from persons other than the partners by 15 % as directed in cl. (b) of paragraph-13 of the part-
nership agreement be regarded as depreciation of the assets, inclusion of depreciation and appreciation in respect of the other assets was not permitted by the deed of partnership. In valuing the moveable
property including the stock of raw materials, the arbitrator could not adopt any valuation other than that mentioned in cl. (c) of paragraph -13 of the partnership agreement, namely, the book value as
given in the books of the firm. Similarly, in the valuation of immoveables such as buildings, godowns, gardens, lands etc., he had to accept the book value as mentioned in the books of account of the firm
and if no book value was available the purchase price as mentioned in the books was to be accepted. The arbitrator had no power to make any adjust- ment in respect of those items by including deprecia-
tion or appreciation in their value. The principle of Cruikshank and others v. Suther- land and others <1J on which reliance was placed by counsel for the retiring partners, has, in our judgment no application to this case, because in that case though
there was an article of the partnership providing that the share of a deceased partner in the assets of the partnership should be ascertained by reference to the annual account made up on April 30 next after
the death, the articles were wholly silent as to the (1) [1923] 92 L.J. Ch. 136 Shah J. (1964] principle to be adopted in preparing a full and general account of the property. There was no usage or
JivaraJbhai course of dealings between the partners from which UJamshi Sheth an inference could be drawn that on the death of and others a partner his share shall be paid out on the footing
v. of book value. The executors of the deceased partner Chintamanrao claimed that his· share be determined "at the· fair Ba/aji and others value of the firm". At p. 138 it was observed by Shah J.
Lord Wrenbury. "Even if there were a usage to state an account for one purpose in one way, that is not a usage to state it for another purpose in the same way. There is a passage in Blisset v. Daniel (10 Hare,
at p. 515) which is useful reading in this connec- tion. An account stated for one purpose is not necessarily stated for another purpose. The fact is, that in this partnership an account has
never been stated with a view to fitting the case of a retiring partner, or a deceased partner, or a senior partner who is going to exercise an option of taking over all the assets. The partners have
never had any such event in view in making the account which they have made. There has never been an account prepared which was intended to meet all the various contingencies of events such
as these. In the case before us there is no dispute that the duty of the arbitrator was to make "valuation of the firm" subject to paragraph-13 of the partnership agreement and it may even be granted that in arriving at that
valuation he was not bound by paragraph-7, but on this question we express no opinion. But the values as mentioned in the different clauses had to be accepted in making up the partnership account in respect
of the four matters specifically enumerated. The principle of Cruikshank's case <1> did not apply, be- cause the · partnership agreement in this case itself provides that the book value in the books of the
firm shall be accepted. (!) [1923] 92 L.J. Ch. 136. 5 S.C.R. The expression "book value" in the context in which it occurs in the partnership agreement means, the value entered in the books of account. Adoption
Jivarajbhai of the book value is therefore obligatory and there U}amshi Sheth is no scope of any adjustment in the value in the and others light of any depreciation or appreciation of the pro-
v. perty, outstandings, stock-in-trade or dead-stock, apart Chintamanrao from what may a~tually be included in the book value Bala}i and others in the books. It is the book value alone which has
to be taken. If the depreciation or appreciation has been taken into account by the partners in assessing the book value, that was evidently part of the book value as entered in the books of account. If there
was no book value entered in respect of any im- moveable property, the decisive value was to be the purchase price . It was then urged that it was for the arbitrator to adjudicate upon the true meaning of the partnership
agreement and to give effect thereto, and if in making a "valuation of the firm" he was of the opinion that depreciation and appreciation in respect of certain items of assets should be included for the purpose
of making up the account of the partners, the Court had no jurisdiction to set aside the award on that account, merely because the Court took a different view as to the true meaning of the arbitration agreement. But
if the partnership agreement was incorporated in the deed of reference, the limits of the jurisdiction of the arbitrator must be determined by the Court and not by the arbitrator. By assuming that he was entitled
to include, beside the value of the four items as men- tioned in paragraph-13, some amount by way of appreciation in the value of those items, the arbitrator purported to set at naught the specific directions
given in that behalf. An award made by an arbitrator is conclusive as a judgment between the parties and the Court is en- titled to set aside an award if the arbitrator has mis- conducted himself in the proceedings or when the
award has been made after the issue of an order by the Court superseding the arbitration or after Shah J. Jivarajbhai Ujamshi Sheth and others [1964] arbitration proceedings have become invalid under
s. 35 of the Arbitration Act or where an award has been improperly procured or is otherwise invalid: s. 30 of the Arbitration Act. An award may be set aside by the Court on the ground 'of error on the face
v. of the award, but an award is, not invalid merely Chr~tamanrao because by a process of inference and argument it Ba/aJI and others may be demonstrated that the arbitrator has com- Shah J.
mitted some mistake in arriving at his conclusion. As observed in Chempsey Bhara and Company v. Jivraj Balloo Spinning and Weaving Company Ltd. cii at p. 331: "An error in law on the face of the award means,
in their Lordships' view, that you can find in the award or a document actually incorporated thereto, as for instance a note appended by the "arbitrator stating the reasons for his judgment,
some legal proposition which is the basis of the award and which you can then say is erroneous. It does not mean that if in a'narrative a reference is made to a contention of one party, that opens
the door to seeing first what that contention is, and then going to the contract qn which the parties' rights depend to see if that contention is sound." The Court in dealing with an application to set aside
an award has not to consider whether the view of the arbitrator on the evidence is justified. The arbitrator's adjudication is generally considered binding between the parties, for he is a tribunal selected by
the parties and the power of the Court to set aside the award is restricted to cases set out in s. 30. It is not open to the Court to speculate, where no reasons are given by the arbitrator, as to what impelled the
arbitrator to arrive at his conclusion. On the assump- tion that the arbitrator must have arrived at his conclusion by a certain process of reasoning, the Court cannot proceed to determine whether the con-
clusion is right or wrong. It is not open to the Court to attempt to probe the mental process by which the arbitrator has reached his conclusion where it (!) L.R. 50 I.A. 324. 5 S.C.R.
is not disclosed by the terms of his award. But the arbitrator has in the present case expressly stated in his award that in arriving at his valuation, he has Jivarajbhai included the depreciation and appreciation of the Ujamshi Sheth property, outstandings and dead-stock, and in so
and others doing in our judgment the arbitrator has travelled v. outside his jurisdiction and the award is on that Chintamanrao account liable to be set aside. The question is not Balaji and others one of interpretation of paragraph-13 of the partner-
ship agreement but of ascertaining the limits of his jurisdiction. The primary duty of the arbitrator under the deed of reference in which was incorporated the partnership agreement, was to value the net assets
of the firm and to award to the retiring partners a share therein. In making the "valuation of the firm", his jurisdiction was restricted in the manner provided by paragraph-13 of the partnership agree-
ment. It was next urged that the depreciation or appre- ciation which had been entered in the assessment of the book value were "other matters connected with" the "transactions" mentioned in the deed of
reference. But manifestly those other matters were apart from the valuation of the goodwill, property, outstandings and the dead-stock. It was then urged that when the arbitrator stated
that he had included depreciation and appreciation of certain assets in the value of the goodwill in the award, he merely meant that such depreciation and appreciation was included as was in the
circumstances permissible. But that would be ignoring the express recital in the award. In fact under the scheme of valuation envisaged by the partnership agreement and therefore the deed of reference, there
was no scope for including in the valuation, apprecia- tion of the assets. Again to argue, as was sought to be done, that even though the arbitrator stated that he had included in the amount of Rs. 32 lakhs
"the depreciation and appreciation" of the property, dead-stock and dues, there being no power to include appreciation, appreciation in the property and the Shah J. [1964) dead-stock could not have been included amounts
to reaching a conclusion from an assumed premise Jivarajbhai of which the conclusion was a component. Ujamshi Sheth and others It was also urged that the expression depreciation v
and appreciation had no such meaning as decrease Chinta~anrao or increase in the market value of the property, Ba/aji and others dead-stock and outstandings, and the clause merely meant tl;iat in fixing the valuation such depreciation
Shah J. or appreciation as had gone into the assessment of the book value of the different items was taken into consideration. But the arbitrator has not said that he merely took into consideration the depreciation
and appreciation which went into the book value assigned by the partners to the assets in the account: he has clearly stated that he had included the depre- ciation and appreciation in those assets in the valua-
tion of the goodwill. Finally it was urged that the recital about the inclusion of depreciation or appreciation was a mere surplusage and should be discarded. But it would be difficult to regard a statement made by the arbitra-
tor relating to what he says he had included in the valuation of the goodwill, as a mere surplusage, especially having regard to the orders made by him insisting upon the production of documentary evi-
dence and certain books of account from Chintaman- rao. It may be pointed out that by cl. 7 of the deed of reference very wide powers were conferred upon the arbitrator to call upon the disputing parties to
produce the accounts etc. which the arbitrator desired and to produce any other papers or documents which the arbitrator would like to inspect, and to reply to any enquiry verbal or written of any sort or in
any connection and in any form the arbitrator wanted. The orders passed by the arbitrator in exercise of these powers tend to indicate that in his view he was competent to ascertain and include in the valuation
of the firm the depreciation and appreciation on the various items which were taken into account in arriving at the valuation. By order dated Septem- ber 16, 1958, the arbitrator gave direction, amongst
5 S.C.R. others, to Chintamanrao to file a statement of houses etc. of immoveable property, valuation of the same as shown in the books of account, i.e. figures regarding Jivarajbhai
it, and "also the approximate value statement as Ujamshi Sheth it existed" at the date of demand according to the and others estimate of Chintamanrao. In the note to the order, v.
it was stated that Chintamanrao had produced certain Chintamanrao papers but they were incomplete, and therefore he Balaji and others was ordered to bring copies of the incomplete papers
and also those papers which were not sent by him. On October 10, 1958, Chintamanrao produced a statement of the net profits of the five years preceding the date of dissolution-which he called the price
of the goodwill–for Samvat years 2009 to 2013. The aggregate of the net profits was Rs. 21,70,650/10/- which he called "price of the goodwill". He then submitted a statement of the outstandings of the
different shops aggregating to Rs. 9,16,366/- and the value of the goods purchased, and other property, and submitted that the total value of the goodwill of the firm by taking into account the profits
of the firm for the last five years "as per the statement filed was Rs. 21,70,650/10/3 and deducting there- from 15 % of the outstandings of the firm considered as irrecoverable, the balance was Rs. 20,33,295/12/9",
and that this was the amount from which the shares of the retiring partners were to be computed. On December 2, 1958, an application was filed by Chinta- manrao inviting the attention of the arbitrator to
the agreement of reference and to the terms of the deed of partnership, especially paragraphs 7 and 13, and sub- mitting that the book values of items (2) to (5) in para- graph-4 of the agreement of reference were already in
the books of account and could be easily found without any detailed or elaborate examination of the books of account, it was unnecessary to enter upon any detailed inspection of the various entries. On this
application an order was passed on December 5, 1958, by the arbitrator that the inspection of the books of account do start on December 21, 1958, in his presence at Sagar in the office of Messrs Virajlal
Mannilal and Company and that Chintamanrao do l SCl/64-32 ShahJ. [1964) make arrangements for giving inspection of all the books of account. On December 22, 1958, another Jivarajbhai
application was submitted by Chintamanrao stating Ujamshi Sheth that it was not necessary to produce certain registers and others and manufacturing accounts and that the orders v.
in that behalf were beyond the jurisdiction of the Chintamanrao arbitrator and that he was unable to produce the Balaji and others documents demanded. It was submitted by that Shah J.
application that the kind of inspection claimed and granted amounted to re-opening of the accounts for the last five years which were closed with the consent and to the knowledge of all the partners
and which could not in law be re-opened. On De- cember 23, 1958, an application was made by Amrat Lal son of Jivraj (one of the retiring partners) sub- mitting that the arbitrator had to value the goodwill
and this had to be done by ascertaining the value of the profits of the five years, and for that purpose the arbitrator was entitled to ascertain yearly profits by scrutinising the account books and finding out
the yearly net profits. On these applications on Decem- ber 25, 1958, the arbitrator gave a direction that Chintamanrao do produce the papers mentioned in item No. 2 in the order dated September 16, 1958,
namely, the gross and net profits of the last five years, and that he do produce the other papers which were ordered to be produced by the order dated September 16, 1958. Thereafter on January 9, 1959, the arbitrator
made his award. The insistence of the arbitrator upon production of the gross and net profits of the last five years indicate that it was the opinion of the arbitrator that he was entitled to take into considera-
tion not only the book value of the assets given in the partnership books of account but the depreciation and appreciation of those assets. The specific use of the expression by the arbitrator that he had in-
cluded the depreciation and appreciation of various items of property and the procedure followed by him including the orders therefore clearly establish that the expression used by him was not a mere sur-
plusage. 5 S.C.R. It is clear that the arbitrator has included in his valuation some amount which he was incompetent, by virtue of the limits placed upon his authority by Jivarajbhai
the deed of reference, to include. This is not a case Ujamshi Sheth in which the arbitrator has committed a mere error and others of fact or law in reaching his conclusion on the dis-
v. puted question submitted for his adjudication. It Chintamanrao is a case of assumption of jurisdiction not possessed Balaji and others by him, and that renders the award, to the extent
to which it is beyond the arbitrator's jurisdiction, invalid. It is, however, impossible to sever from the valuation made by the arbitrator the value of the depreciation and appreciation included by the arbitra-
tor. The award must, therefore, fail in its entirety. In this view of the case, we do not think it necessary to consider whether the plea raised by the remaining partners that the award is vitiated on the ground
that the arbitrator accepted from the retiring partners documents prepared from the books of account without giving an opportunity to the remaining partners to explain those documents. It was the case
of Chintamanrao that these documents were pre- pared and handed over to the arbitrator without giving any notice to him. It was the case of the retir- ing partners that the documents consisted merely
of extracts of entries in the books of account, and that in any event Chintamanrao had assented to those documents being included in the record of the arbitra- tor. For the reasons set out by us in dealing with the
first plea for setting aside the award, and that plea having succeeded, we do not think it necessary to enter upon the respective contentions of the parties on the second ground. We accordingly hold that the award was properly
set aside by the Courts below. Cou!lsel for the retiring partners submitted that on the view taken by us, the award should be remit- ted to the arbitrator under s. 16 of the Arbitration Act
~940. N? such reque~t was, h?wever, made by the~ m the Trial. Cour.t or m tp.e High Court, and we will not be justified m the Circumstances of the case in Shah J. (1964] acceding to that request.· We may observe that we
have not heard counsel on the question whether in Jivarajbhai the circumstances of the case and on the conclusion Ujamshi Sheth recorded, we have the power under s. 16 to remit the and others
award to the arbitrator. The retiring partners have . v. also not asked for an order for supersession of the Chz~tamanrao arbitration agreement in exercise of the powers of BalaJl and others the Court under s. 19. We have, therefore, refrain- Shah J.
ed from considering that question also. The appeal fails and is dismissed with costs in one set. Hidayatullah J. HIDAYATULLAH, J.-This appeal arises out of an arbitration award which was set aside by the
Additional District Judge, Sagar on the objection of the respondents. The judgment of the Additional District Judge was confirmed on appeal by the High Court and the present appeal has been filed on a
certificate granted by the High Court under Art. 133 (l)(c) of the Constitution. The arbitration was without the intervention of the Court. Previously it proceeded before three arbitrators but the authority of two of
the arbitrators was revoked by the Additional District Judge, Sagar, at the agreed request of the parties to the reference. It then proceeded before one Chatur- bhuj V. Jasani who gave his award on January 9,
1959. The arbitration proceedings were necessary be- cause of the retirement of the appellants from a firm called Virajlal Mannilal & Co. which at that time consisted of eight partners in three groups. These
groups were the three appellants (Jivraj and his two sons) owning -/4/3 share, respondents Nos. 1-3 (Chintamanrao and his two sons) owning -/716 share and the two remaining respondents, who are brothers,
owning the balance. By agreement this retirement was to take place on April 15, 1958. In revoking the award the High Court, in concurrence with the court below, has upheld two objections-(a) that the
arbitrator exceeded his jurisdiction and (b) that he was guilty of misconduct in receiving some evidence behind the back of Chintamanrao. 5 S.C.R. The firm of which the several parties here were
partners had a written deed of partnership executed on February 16, 1956. This deed replaced earlier Jivarajbhai deeds to which reference is not necessary. The Ujamshi Sheth partnership kept its accounts from Diwali to Diwali
and others and every year it drew up a balance sheet and a profit v. and loss account, copies of which documents were Chi~tamanrao given to all the partners. The accounts so stated Bala11 ond others were subject to objection but if none was made,
they were conclusive and binding on the partners. Hidayatullah J. All this was provided in the deed of partnership which also provided for the retirement of partners and its I 3th
paragraph laid down special terms as follows: "In case of retirement of any partner the valua- tion of the Firm will be made on the following basis for the purpose of settling the account
of the retiring partner:- (a) Goodwill of the Firm: That is, right to use the trade marks, trade labels and the name of the Firm. In making the valuation of the above, the net profits of the last five years will be taken
as the value of the Goodwill of the Firm. (b) Outstandings, Udhari (Recoveries): That is, loans and debts outstanding against persons other than partner will be calculated at 85 % of the book value of the Firm.
(c) Stock of Raw Materials: That is, tobacco, bidis, bidi leaves, labels and other moveable property will be valued at the book value of these in the books of the Firm and all such stocks and moveables, thus valued
shall be given to the following part- ners. (d) Immovable Property: Such as buildings, godowns, gardens, lands etc. will be valued at the purchase price or their book value in the books of the firm as the case may
be, and all these shall be given to the re- maining partners." [ 1964] As a result of an arrangement reached aliunde by which the businesses of these partners, which were Jivarajbhai
in different firm names and various places, were to be Ujamshi Sheth divided between the appellants on the one hand and and others the respondents on the other, the parties desired an
v. arbitration to separate the shares of the appellants Chintamanrao as partners retiring from the firm Virajlal Mannilal Balaji and others & Co. A deed of reference was executed by them on April 16, 1958. After the usual recitals, it provided
Hidayatullah J. that a final account of the partners should be taken with regard to eight matters-"as far as possible according to and taking into consideration the terms and conditions of the partnership agreement." The
eight matters were: 1. Goodwill of Trade Mark. 2. Property. 3. Credits (Udhari). 4. Dead Stock. 5. Stock-in-trade i.e., the raw material or the finished goods invested in the business.
6. Other matters connected with these transac- tions. 7. Profit and Loss Account. 8. The Receipt and Payments account of the amounts of the partners. It was further provided that the firm Virajlal Mannilal
was to continue with the respondents after the appel- lants had retired therefrom and the appellants were to be paid an amount to be determined by the arbitrator and in such a manner and on such conditions
as he might direct. The arbitrator having filed the award in Court, the respondents filed objections, only two of which noticed above succeeded and the award was set aside. I shall therefore proceed straight to those objections
of which only the first was fully argued before us. In making his award the arbitrator gave the appellants a -14;3 share from a lump amount of Rs. 32 lacs which he described as "goodwill" of the firm, adjust-
ing, in the respective shares of the three appellants in that sum, all amounts standing to their credit i t 5 S.C.R. or debit, as the case may be, in the account books of the firm.
He also assessed the "goodwill" for the period from Diwali to the date of retirement and made suitable additions. His real decision is contained in three or four lines in the award which of course contains
Jivarajbhai Ujarnshi Sheth and others other matters and his exact words in Hindi have given . v. rise to some difference because they have been transla- Chi~tarnanrao ted in two different ways on the record of the case. Ba/aJl and others The two. translations are-
Hidayatullah J. (I) The value of the goodwill of the whole firm I assess at Rs. 32,000,00/- (Rupees thirtytwo lacs). In this sum property, dead stock and depreciation and appreciation of Udhari are
also included; (2) The value of the goodwill of the whole firm I assess at Rs. 32,000,001- (Rupees thirtytwo lacs). In this sum the depreciation and appreciation of property, dead stock and
Udhari is also included." The second translation is probably more accurate than the first, but to my mind it is not a matter of mere words but of what the arbitrator has done. The award is in Hindi and the two words"appreciation"
and "depreciation" are in English. They might well have been used to still all controversy about issues which the parties had raised before him relating to these matters. The arbitrator might, in other
words, have used these words loosely without meaning anything except to show that he had looked into everything which the parties desired him to see. The dispute is thus whether the arbitrator exceeded his
jurisdiction by adding back depreciation amounts to the book value and/ or allowing for appreciation of property which was successfully claimed by the respondents in the High Court and the Court below
to be not open to him? In this appeal it was contended on behalf of the ap- pellants that the deed of partnership as well as the order of reference left the arbitrator a free hand and even
if the arbitrator wrongly interpreted the deed of part- nership and did add back the depreciation and/or Jivarajbhai Ujamshi Sheth and others v. Chintamanrao Balaji and others Hidayatullah J.
[1964] appreciation, no question of jurisdiction could arise. Reliance is placed upon the observations of the Judi- cial Committee in the well-known case of Chamsey Bhara & Co. v. Jivraj Ba/loo Spg. & Wvg. Co.en
where it was observed: "An error in law on the face of the award means, in their Lordships' view, that you can find in the award or a document actually incor- porated thereto, as for instance, a note appended
by the arbitrator stating the reasons for his judgment, some legal proposition which is the basis of the award and which you can then say is erroneous. It does not mean that if in a
narrative a reference is made to a contention of one party that opens the door to seeing first what that contention is, and then going to the contract on which the parties' rights depend
to see if that contention is sound. Here it is impossible to say, from what is shown on the face of the award, what mistake the arbitrators made. The only way that the learned judges
have arrived at finding what the mistake was is by saying; "inasmuch as the arbitrators awarded so-and-so, and inasmuch as the letter shows that the buyer rejected the cotton, the arbitrators
can only have arrived at that result by totally misinterpreting Rule 52". But they were entitled to give their own interpretation to Rule 52 or any other Article, and the award will stand un-
less, on the face of it, they have tied themselves down to some special legal proposition which then, when examined, appears to be unsound." Mr. Desai contends that the arbitrator might
have interpreted the partnership deed wrongly but that was a matter within his jurisdiction and the error, if any, not being one of law on the face of the award, the Civil Court had no authority or jurisdiction
to set aside the award. The other side contends, as has so far been held in the case, that the reference, read with the partnership deed, created an area of (1) LL.R. 47 Born. 578 at 586.
' ,. 5 S.C.R. jurisdiction which the arbitrator has outstepped. The first point is therefore to decide what were the limits of the arbitrator's action as disclosed by the reference
Jivarajbhai and the deed of partnership and then to see what Ujamshi Sheth the arbitrator has actually done and not what he and others may have stated loosely in his award. This is the
v. only way in which the excess of jurisdiction can be Chintamanrao found If the interpretation of the deed of partner-Balaji and others ship lies with the arbitrator, then there is no question
. — of sitting in appeal over his interpretation, in view Hidayatullah J. of the passage quoted above from Champsey's case but if the parties set limits to action by the arbitrator, then the arbitrator had to follow the limits set for
him, and the court can find that he has exceeded his jurisdiction on proof of such action. The arbitrator derived his authority from the reference and we must turn to its terms in the first
instance. The material portion has been quoted and it shows that in view of the retirement of Jivraj and his sons, parties considered it necessary "to effect the final account of the retiring partners with
regard to the matters mentioned below as far possible according to and taking into consideration the terms and conditions of the partnership agreement,"and then followed the eight items. The words underlined
are in the recitals but they do show that the parties desired a division in accordance with the terms of the partnership agreement. The words "as far possi- ble" show some latitude in one sense, but the force
of those words is to be discovered with the aid of the other words "according to and taking to consideration etc." which lay down that the terms of the partnership agreement must prevail over personal opinion. The
partners appoint•ed the arbitrators to decide the eight matters and to enable them to give their decision undertook by cl. 7 of the reference to furnish all accounts, documents and information which the
arbitrators might require of them. Now the deed of partnership which was to pre- vail as far as its terms were applicable provided that to settle the final account of the retiring partners
[1964] four items of assets should be valued in a particular way. These directions were contained in cl. 13 of Jivarajbhai the deed already set out earlier. Thus goodwill was Ujamshi Sheth equal to five years' net profits; debts due to the firm and others
were to be taken not at their book value but at 85 % v. of that value; stocks of raw materials were to be Chintamanrao valued at book value; and immovable properties Balaji and others at purchase price or their book value in the books of the firm as the case may be. The goodwill took no account
Hidayatullah J. of anything but the net profits. Admittedly, the net profits of the preceding five years were Rs. 21,70,650; 10/-. This set at rest sub-clause (a) of cl. 13 of the part- nership agreement. Admittedly also the outstandings
(Udhari) came to Rs. 9,16,366/- at their book value and 15 % thereof came to Rs. 137,354;13;6. The net Udhari therefore was Rs. 7, 79,011/2/6. Differences really arose in the matter of valuation of raw materials
and immovable properties and ir, this connection the appellants asked to see an account of gross profits for the past five years which the arbitrator ordered Chintamanrao to produce. According to the appel-
lants the value of properties given by Chintamanrao was the written down value and the right figure accord- ing to the agreement was not Rs. 6,24,369/- as stated by Chintamanrao but Rs. 16,57,000/-. In reply Chin-
tamanrao stated that it was not the practice of the firm to prepare an account of gross profits but he added that gross pro fits could be calculated from the account books by the other side or by the arbitrator
and he offered the services of an accountant to prepare such an account. The documents which the arbit- rator is said to have received behind the back of Chintamanrao (though not some of the other res-
pondents) are the abstracts which show the gross profits and what was excluded to reach the net pro- fits. The net profits in these accounts and the net profits given by Chintamanrao agree. I do not refer
to the dispute about the production of the documents since that part of the case was not argued before us, but these accounts prime facie do show that in working out net profits for the five years, deprecia-
tion of immovable property and goods was taken 5 S.C.R. into account. The same depreciation appears to have been taken into account in the balance sheet while valuing the assets against the liabilities. In
Jivarajbhai other words depreciation of immovable properties Ujamshi Sheth and goods over the five years for which the goodwill and others was to be calculated appeared to have been taken
v. twice over. Chintamanrao . Balaji and others I would have persuaded myself to go mto this __ n;iat.ter more deeply but for the fact that sue~ depre- Hidayatullah J. c1ation does not altogether account for the difference
between 21 lacs and 32 lacs. The balance sheets show a very slender difference between the assets and liabilities over the five years and it may be taken that the value of Udhari, raw materials and immovable
properties is offset by the liabilities. Nothing re- mains except a very petty sum as profit to be carried over for addition to the goodwill. The duplicated depreciation does not in fact account for the increase
from Rs. 21 lacs to Rs. 32 lacs. The conclusion is therefore inescapable that the arbitrator meant what he said when he spoke of including apprecia- tion and depreciation in the valuation of the pro-
perties etc. For this reason he must be held to have exceeded his jurisdiction and it is not a question of his having merely interpreted the partnership agree- ment for himself as to which the Civil Court on autho-
rity could have liad no say, unless there was an error of law on the face of the award. Reliance is placed upon the case of Cruickshank and others v. Sutherland and otherscJJ that if accounts
in the past were not prepared to meet the contingency of retiring partners, the accounts must be recast for this special purpose and the arbitrator must ne- cessarily have freedom to value property in his own
way and not by accepting old accounts already made by the partners. The intention here was that the ar- bitrator should prepare the final accounts as the part- ners would themselves have done under the partnership
agreement, and the arbitrator had to follow cl. 13 of the partnership agreement which was binding on (l) [1923] 92 L. J. Ch. 136. . [1964) the partners and therefore on him. The partnership
agreement did not speak of market value or fair Jivarajbhai value. It stated that the purchase price or the book Ujamshi Sheth value as the. case may be alone could be taken into and others
account. This meant that the book value where v · available and the purchase price in other cases only Chrntamanrao were to enter in the calculations. There was thus Balaji an'!.._othersno option to go to fair value or market price at all. Hidayatullah J.
I do not think that we should supersede the November 20. arbitration agreement under s.19. No circumstance was made out for such a course. I would have direc- ted a remit to the arbitrator under s. 16 of the Arbit-
ration Act 1940 but my brethren take a different view of the matter and I leave the matter there. The contention of the appellants on the question of juris- diction decided against them must fail and I agree
that the appeal should be dismissed with costs. Appeal dismissed. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME-TAX, HYDERABAD v. SRI RAJAREDDY MALLARAM (A.K. SARKAR, M. HIDAYATULLAH AND J.C. SHAH JJ.) Indian Income Tax Act, 1922 (11 of 1922), ss. 23(4), 44, 63(2) -Dissolution of Business Association-Notice of assessment on one member-If order of assessment enforceable against members not served with notice-Dissolution, effect of-s. 44,
Scope and effect of-"Every 'person", meaning ~{-"Tax payable". meaning of Practice-Question which did not arise out of Tribunal's order and was not referred-If could be raised. r