Madras High Court Appoints Arbitrator to Resolve Dog Show Judge Dispute
The Madras High Court has taken a significant step in resolving a contentious issue involving the appointment of a judge for a dog show organized by the Kennel Club of India (KCI). Former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, Justice TS Sivagnanam, has been appointed as the arbitrator to address the dispute.
This decision was handed down by Justice K Kumaresh Babu on September 1, following a petition filed by CS Sanjay Reddy. Reddy challenged the appointment of Gauri Nargolkar as an ‘all breed judge’ for the Kennel Club, alleging that Nargolkar lacked the necessary qualifications for the role.
In the realm of dog shows, an ‘all breed judge’ is one who is certified to evaluate dogs across various recognized breeds. Reddy initially sought to invalidate Nargolkar’s appointment through a civil suit. However, the Kennel Club and other respondents invoked the arbitration clause present in its by-laws, seeking to resolve the matter through arbitration as per Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.
The civil court agreed with this approach and referred the dispute to arbitration, a decision Reddy contested unsuccessfully in appeal. Eventually, Reddy decided to pursue arbitration and petitioned the High Court for the appointment of an arbitrator.
The Kennel Club opposed Reddy’s arbitration petition, arguing that it was barred by the statute of limitations and that Reddy had not issued a notice invoking arbitration under Section 21 of the Arbitration Act. The High Court dismissed these objections, ruling that Reddy could exclude the time spent pursuing appellate remedies from the limitation period calculation.
Furthermore, the court found that a separate Section 21 notice was unnecessary. It noted that the dispute had already been outlined in the civil suit and that the respondents themselves had initially pushed for arbitration as a resolution method.
With no barriers to arbitration, Justice Babu appointed Justice Sivagnanam as the sole arbitrator, granting him the authority to set his own fees. Justice Sivagnanam, who has retired from his position as Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, had previously been appointed to lead an appellate tribunal for electoral roll revisions in West Bengal, a position from which he later resigned.
CS Sanjay Reddy was represented by advocate VG Suresh Kumar, while Senior Advocate R Srinivas, instructed by advocate Mythili Srinivas, represented the respondents in the case.
