Abu Farhan Azmi
HC-appointed arbitrator dismisses petition against restaurateur.
In a relief forrestaurateur Abu Farhan Azmi , a retired judge of the Bombay High Court has dismissed an arbitration petition filed by his former business partners.
The High Court had appointed retired Justice VM Kanade to arbitrate the dispute between Azmi on one side and his former partnersKashiff Khan and his wife Khatija Khan on the other side. Justice Kanade, in an order passed last week, dismissed the petition filed by the Khans on behalf of their firm Kats Euro Café “for non-prosecution” – which means the Khans could not fight the case after filing it.
Café Basilico in Bandra in 2015. However, by 2017, the partners started blaming one another for mismanagement. While the Khans accused Azmi of siphoning off funds originally invested in the business and of diverting money received from customers to a different account, Azmi filed police complaints against Kashiff for sending goons to his Bandra restaurant.
In his order, Justice Kanade noted that various opportunities were given to the Khans to file their affidavit of evidence to justify their case, they kept seeking adjournments for one reason or the other. The order notes requests from Khatija’s side in the past two months that since Kashiff was in judicial custody in Rajasthan in another case, she may be given more time to file the affidavit.
The arbitrator, however, observed that Kashiff was arrested in November, while the original order for the Khans to file affidavit as of August, yet no affidavit was filed.
The arbitrator also observed that Khatija had sought time to settle the case with Azmi “as soon as Kashiff comes out on bail,” but the parties had enough time to do so even before Kashiff was arrested in Rajasthan, therefore, there was no guarantee that the Khans would be able to take the case forward in the future as well. The judge also noted that the Khans had not paid his fees for arbitration hearings, amounting to Rs 2 lakh, and directed that it be paid by March 5.
In a relief for
The High Court had appointed retired Justice VM Kanade to arbitrate the dispute between Azmi on one side and his former partners
The Khans had bought franchisee right to run Azmi’s restaurants Koyla, in Versova, and
In his order, Justice Kanade noted that various opportunities were given to the Khans to file their affidavit of evidence to justify their case, they kept seeking adjournments for one reason or the other. The order notes requests from Khatija’s side in the past two months that since Kashiff was in judicial custody in Rajasthan in another case, she may be given more time to file the affidavit.
The arbitrator, however, observed that Kashiff was arrested in November, while the original order for the Khans to file affidavit as of August, yet no affidavit was filed.
The arbitrator also observed that Khatija had sought time to settle the case with Azmi “as soon as Kashiff comes out on bail,” but the parties had enough time to do so even before Kashiff was arrested in Rajasthan, therefore, there was no guarantee that the Khans would be able to take the case forward in the future as well. The judge also noted that the Khans had not paid his fees for arbitration hearings, amounting to Rs 2 lakh, and directed that it be paid by March 5.
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