Former Supreme Court judge Justice RV Raveendran appointed sole arbitrator in Toyota Kirloskar - Radha Krishna Automobile dispute

The Supreme Court on Monday appointed former judge, Justice RV Raveendran, as the sole arbitrator in the dispute over a dealership agreement between Toyota Kirloskar and Radha Krishna Automobile [Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited vs M/S Radha Krishna Automobile Private Limited]..A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala passed the order after noting that both parties wanted the matter referred to arbitration."By consent, Mr Justice RV Raveendran, former judge of the Supreme Court of India is appointed as sole arbitrator under the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act," the Court ordered.The top court was hearing an appeal against a November 2022 order of the Karnataka High Court that had terminated a dealership agreement between the parties.The same was set aside by the top court after noting the submission of counsel for the petitioner Toyota that for a period of three weeks, the dealership of the respondents shall continue to remain in operation on a ‘holding over’ even though they are not entitled to any continuance of the existing arrangement. "During the aforesaid period of three weeks, it will be open to the respondent to move the sole arbitrator for interim relief under Section 17 of the Act. Any such application ... shall be decided on its merits uninfluenced by any of the observations contained in the impugned judgment," the top court's order said.The bench clarified that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case. .Justice Raveendran enrolled as an advocate in 1968, and was elevated to the Karnataka High Court in 1993. He became the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2004, and was elevated to the Supreme Court in October 2005.He headed the three-member expert committee formed by the Supreme Court in October 2021 to probe into the Pegasus surveillance scandal, which no evidence of the software in the mobile devices examined.The former Supreme Court judge is part of the Board of Trustees of the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre, Hyderabad. .Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Kavin Gulati appeared for Toyota.Senior Advocates KK Venugopal, Shyam Divan, S Guru Krishna Kumar, Dr Menaka Guruswamy, and Vikram Pooserla appeared for the respondents.[Read Order]