Reply on behalf of respondent to arbitration claim filed by claimant
0 of 28 blanks filled
HINDUSTAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Chamber's address
CASE NO. Arbitration case number/Year of arbitration case
Claimant's name
Through its Proprietor, Proprietor's name
Claimant's address.….Claimant/Complainant
Versus
Respondent's name
Respondent's address.Respondent's description/details Respondent
REPLY ON BEHALF OF THE RESPONDENT TO THE CLAIM FILED BY THE CLAIMANT
MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH:
Preliminary Objections:
1.That the claim/complaint filed by the claimant/complainant against the respondent is not maintainable and is liable to be dismissed with exemplary costs, as the complainant has not approached this Hon'ble Bench with clean hands and the averments made in the complaint are completely false and frivolous.
2.That the present complaint is not maintainable, as the complainant has not filed any invoice or any agreement containing an arbitration clause or an interest clause.
3.That the mala fide intention of the complainant is clearly evident from the calculation of interest. In the month of Month of claimant's letter Year respondent received claimant's letter, the respondent received a letter from the claimant and telephoned the claimant immediately upon receiving the same, and informed him that all bills raised in favour of the respondent had been duly settled from time to time, and that, therefore, no liability of interest attached to the respondent. Consequently, the claimant never demanded payment of interest prior to the said letter. As per the said letter, the claimant demanded payment of Rs. Amount claimed in claimant's letter (₹)/- (the amount calculated at the rate of 18% interest). However, it was a matter of great shock for the respondent when he received communication from this Arbitral Bench claiming Rs. Alleged unpaid amount (₹)/- (with interest charged at Interest rate claimed in arbitration%). Further, when the respondent telephoned the complainant in Month of phone call to claimant Year of phone call to claimant, the claimant, during the conversation, assured the respondent that he would not proceed further, as no liability of interest attached to the respondent.
4.That the statement of accounts filed by the complainant itself establishes the settlement of accounts, as all bills were duly settled from time to time.
5.That, in view of the Limitation Act, the complaint is not maintainable, as the claimant seeks to recover interest alleged to have accrued in the year Alleged year of accrued interest. As per the accounts, the alleged amount of Rs. Amount pending in alleged year (₹)/- was pending in the year Alleged year, but it was never claimed, and the claim was filed only in the year Year of filing claim. The claim is therefore barred by limitation and is liable to be dismissed.
6.That the present claim is also not maintainable, as the respondent has made entire payment to the claimant, and the claimant/complainant never called upon the respondent to pay the interest amount or the amount of Rs. Interest amount allegedly unpaid (₹)/-. The respondent always made payment on time, and no interest ever accrued on the amounts due from the respondent. The present complaint is therefore not maintainable.
7.That the present claim/complaint has been filed without any cause of action against the respondent, is not maintainable, and is liable to be dismissed with heavy and exemplary costs, as the sole motive of the complainant is to harass the respondent and to extract money from him.
8.That the complainant has not disclosed the true facts and has concealed material facts from this Hon'ble Bench. The claimant has no locus standi to file the present claim against the respondent, and the claimant seeks to unnecessarily harass the respondent.
REPLY ON MERITS:
9.That the contents of the entire complaint are wrong, false and are denied. It is denied that it was agreed that compoundable interest at X% would be charged after a period of Credit period in days for charging interest days. It is submitted that the complainant/claimant has not filed any agreement, invoice or bill containing an interest clause.
10.It is further denied that the total outstanding amount due to the claimant is Rs. Alleged principal amount outstanding (₹)/- as principal amount and Rs. Alleged interest amount outstanding (₹)/- as interest. It is further denied that, in order to recover the said amount, the complainant/claimant used to call the respondent, that the respondent always gave assurances to pay the money along with interest, and that the respondent sought further time. It is submitted that the complainant/claimant never demanded the said amount except in the letter sent in Month of claimant's letter Year of claimant's letter. As no dues remained against the respondent, the statement filed by the complainant shows that an amount of Rs. Amount pending as per claimant's statement (₹)/- was pending in the year Alleged year of pending amount, and the complainant has filed the present claim in the year Year of filing claim, i.e., after four years, which is barred by limitation.
11.It is denied that the respondent gave any such false assurance for almost one year. It is further denied that the claimant contacted any mediator/liaisoning person who assured the claimant of arranging payment along with interest. It is denied that the claimant travelled to Delhi to meet the respondent. It is further denied that, when the claimant telephoned again after two days, the respondent's phone number was found unreachable.
12.It is submitted that the respondent cleared all dues and made entire payments, lastly in the month of Month of claimant's letter Month's year of final payment, and thereafter no transaction took place between the complainant and the respondent. Since then, the claimant never demanded payment of the alleged amount of Rs. Alleged unpaid amount (₹)/- (if it was indeed pending). The complainant neither made any telephone call nor sent any letter demanding payment of the said amount.
PRAYER:
It is, therefore, most respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Arbitral Bench may graciously be pleased to:
(a)dismiss the present complaint with heavy costs; and
(b)pass such further or other orders as may be deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case and in the interests of justice.
DateRespondent
Through
Counsel
Place: Chamber's address