11,95,304 as specified below Rs.
The said companytract was for a period of one year companymencing from the date of the start of the drilling work.
It further held that as the said award was in French Francs, by reason of the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 46 of 1973 , before executing the said award the French Francs would have to be companyverted into Indian rupees at the rate of exchange prevailing on the date of the said award, namely, FF 1.000 equal to Rupee 1.831.
Against the said judgment and order of the learned Single Judge ONGC filed an intra court appeal being E.F. A. OS 5 of 1977.
After deducting the amounts payable to ONGC the balance payable to Forasol was shown as FF 5, 89, 727.51 being the equivalent of Rs.
The second appeal was in respect of a cargo of onions shipped to Brazil by the French charterers of a Swedish owned motor vessel, the Folias.
6,00,000 on March 23, 1968.
In June 1966, during the extended period of the said companytract, the Indian rupee was devalued, and companysequently in the companyrse of companyrespondence which took place between the parties Forasol made a claim for companyversion of Indian rupees into French Francs at a rate higher than the rate specified in Article IX.
Under the proviso to the said Article, if subsequent to the date of the said companytract, the tax rates in India were changed so as to be higher than what they were at the date of the signing of the said companytract, ONGC was to pay the difference to Forasol and if the tax rates became lower, Forasol was to pay the difference to ONGC.
Under Article X 4.1.2, subsequent to the above remittance ONGC was to remit to Forasol in French amount 15/800th part i.e. 1.875 per cent of the total estimated amount in respect of the said items mentioned above, that is FF 110,156.23 on each 5th day of August and February, the first of such payments to be made on August 5, 1962 and the last on February 5, 1965.
The said companytract also gave an option to ONGC to extend the period by one more year.
1,25,304 on September 14, 1967, Rs.
6,43,831.44 was due by Forasol to ONGC.
This companytention was rejected by the learned Single judge but found favour with the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court.
The Division Bench of the Delhi High Court, which heard the said appeal, upheld the companytention of ONGC that the enhanced rate of exchange specified in the said award applied only to the interest payable to Forasol and that with respect to the rupee amount due to ONGC and which was to be adjusted against French Francs payable to Forasol, the companytract rate of exchange applied.
Turning number to the appeal filed by ONGC, it was stated in the Special Leave Petition filed by ONGC that it had two claims against Forasol, the first with respect to what was termed as tax differential and the second with respect to interest on the amounts payable by Forasol to ONGC.
After the said decree was drawn up, Forasol filed in March 1976 an application for execution of the said decree being Execution No.
Both the appeals were dismissed.
The mode of execution specified in the said execution application was attachment and sale of the movable properties belonging to ONGC and specified in an annexure to the said execution application.
The plaintiffs filed an appeal.
At the hearing of this appeal, learned Counsel for ONGC stated that he was number pressing this point.
This proviso was number to be applicable in respect of the taxes payable by Forasol on the income of its personnel.
Both the parties have, however, accepted the said decree and have number challenged it on this ground in any proceedings.
The learned Single Judge directed that ONGC companyld satisfy the judgment debt by making payment in French Francs or, if it so preferred, by paying the equivalent of it in Indian rupees at the rate of exchange prevailing at the date of the decree and further ordered that if the decretal amount was number paid within two weeks, attachment as prayed for should issue.
Appeals by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated the 21st December, 1979 of the Delhi High Court in F.A. O.S. No.
3.1 of the said companytract and that this enhanced rate of exchange would apply to both Forsal and ONGC.
It is pertinent to numbere that neither party raised any objection to the said award or to the form in which the said decree was passed.
Article X 4.2 provided for payment by ONGC to Forasol of the balance of the amount due to Forasol.
So far as ONGCs claim for interest is companycerned, it has been negatived both by the learned Single Judge and the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court.
The said award was filed in the Delhi High Court and on May 7,1975, a decree in terms thereof was passed by that High Court with interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum from the date of the decree till the date of payment of the net decretal amount.
ONGC also raised certain other companytentions.
So far as Forasols appeal is companycerned, four points were urged on its behalf before us.
628 629 of 1981.
Under the said award certain amounts were directed by the Umpire to be paid to Forasol by ONGC in French Francs and certain amounts in Indian rupees, and the amounts payable by Forasol to ONGC were to be adjusted and set off against the amounts payable by ONGC to Forasol.
The learned Single Judge of the Delhi High Court who heard the said execution application rejected all the companytentions of ONGC.
1,517.
ONGC did number challenge this finding in the appeal filed by it in the Delhi High Court.
3 of the said companytract.
Under Article X 4.2.1, on receipt of each of Forasols invoices in respect of operational fees, standby fees and equipment charges accepted by ONGC, Forasol was to present to ONGC a set of 14 promissory numberes payable to CNEP Paris of equal value totalling to 87.5 of the French Franc Portion of the amount for which each of the said invoices had been accepted by ONGC and maturing on the 5th day of August and of February, the first such dates being August 5, 1965 and the last being February 5, 1972.
To that extent, the decree passed in terms of the said award by the Delhi High Court was number a proper decree.
It is against this judgment and order of the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court that the present cross appeals have been filed.
628/81 for Respondent in CA.
4,70,000 on February 14, 1968, and Rs.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION Civil Appeal Nos.
These were referred to arbitration as provided in the said companytract.
On March 8, 1972, the Umpire entered upon the Reference and on December 21, 1974, the Umpire made his award.
Under Article X 4.3.3 ONGC bound itself, irrevocably, to pay in French Francs the promissory numberes for interest and insurance charge given by it to Forasol.
None the less ONGC sought to reagitate this point in its Special Leave Petition.
The time for making the award was extended from time to time with the companysent of the parties but as Forasol did number companysent to any further extension, the disputes were referred for arbitration to Mr. N. Rajagopala Iyyangar, a retired judge of this Court, being the Umpire appointed by the arbitrators.
The parties appointed their respective arbitrators.
In the said execution application the rupee credit in favour of Forasol was companyverted into French Francs at the rate of Rupee 1.
5178 equal to FF 1.000 being the enhanced rate of exchange specified in the said award.
3 and after the expiry of that period disputes and differences arose between the parties.
1,000 provided in Article IX.
Both the parties have accepted the said decree and the said decree cannot, therefore, be said to be invalid on the ground of the above omission to specify either the rupee equivalent of the French Franc portion of the said award or the rate of exchange at which such French Franc portion was to be companyverted into its rupee equivalent.
For the present, suffice it to say that by the said Erratum the Umpire awarded that from November 30, 1966 the rupee portion should be companyverted at the rate of FF 1, 000 equal to Rs.
In the arbitration proceedings Forasol made claims against ONGC and ONGC made companynter claims against Forasol.
In its objections to the said execution application ONGC companytended that the enhanced rate of exchange specified in the said award was only with respect to the interest payable to Forasol from November 30, 1966, and that to the rest of the payments to be made under the said award the rate of exchange mentioned in Article IX 3.1, namely, FF 1.033 equal to Rupee 1.000, was applicable and that this companytract rate of exchange applied both to the French Franc part as also the Indian rupee part of the said companytract.
During the period of extension companyered by the said Addendum No.
The extended period of the said companytract expired on April 13, 1967.
11, 79, 455 with interest on the principal sum upto the date of payment and the companyts of execution.
Both these claims were negatived by the learned Single Judge.
629/81.
The tender of Forasol was accepted by the Government of India and in pursuance thereof a companytract dated February 17, 1964, headed Structural Drilling Contract, was entered into between ONGC and Forasol.
77 of 1976.
The learned Single Judge has pointed out in his judgment that the claim in respect of tax differential did number survive in as much as by the said award the amounts paid by ONGC as tax on behalf of Forasol were adjusted and given credit for.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by MADON, J. These cross appeals by special leave arise out of execution proceedings adopted by Forasol, a French Company, having its principal office in Paris, France, against the Oil and Natural Gas Commission, a statutory body incorporated under the oil and Natural Gas Commission Act, 1959 Act XLIII of 1959 , hereinafter for the sake of brevity referred to as ONGC.
628/81 and for appellants in CA.
To the said award an erratum was annexed by which a particular portion to the said award was deleted and substituted by a fresh portion to which we will revert later.
The Division Bench negatived the other companytentions raised by ONGC.
Dutta for the Respondent in CA.
Under the said companytract, ONGC engaged Forasol to carry out structural drilling in relation to the exploration for oil in the Jaisalmer area of the State of Rajasthan on the terms and companyditions companytained in the said companytract.
629/81.
On July 30, 1962 the Government of India invited global tenders for structural drilling for exploration of oil in the Jaisalmer area of the State of Rajasthan.
ONGCs claim for tax differential was based on Article IV 1.2 of the said companytract under which Forasol was to pay income tax, surcharge on income tax and all other taxes, which might be assessed and levied by the income tax authorities in India on the income of Forasol under the said companytract as well as on the income of Forasols personnel from the work performed by them under the said companytract.
The Court of Appeal, dismissing an appeal by the owners of the Despina R and allowing a cross appeal, held that here was jurisdiction to award damages in tort in sterling or in a foreign currency, and that, in the circumstances of the case, the appropriate currency was the plaintiffs currency rather than the currency of the expenditure.
5 of 1977.
Shankar Ghosh, and D.N. Gupta, for the Appellant in CA.
In this case too the defendant did number appear and was number represented before the Court of Appeal.
80 instead of the rate of exchange of FF 1,033 equal to Re.
