Parties: Rajia Begum vs. Barnali Mukherjee
Lawyers: Aviral Saxena
Judges: Mr. Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, Mr. Justice Alok Aradhe
Judgment By: Mr. Justice Alok Aradhe
Case Number: 9620/2021
Summary: A disagreement between Rajia Begum and Barnali Mukherjee involves a debated Admission Deed. The courts had to decide if the issues should be settled through arbitration, given the claims of forgery.
In a case that unfolded in the Supreme Court of India, Rajia Begum and Barnali Mukherjee were caught in a legal fight over a partnership in a business called M/s RDDHI Gold. The trouble started with an Admission Deed dated April 17, 2007, which Rajia said gave her a share in the business. However, Barnali claimed the deed was fake.
On May 4, 2018, the High Court had to decide whether to protect Rajia's supposed interest in the business. They found the Admission Deed's existence questionable and denied temporary protection. This decision was important because if the deed was fake, Rajia's claim to the business was groundless.
Barnali filed a lawsuit in 2018 to declare the deed a forgery. Rajia wanted the issue settled through arbitration, but the trial court rejected this request on September 6, 2018, because the fraud claims were too complicated. The High Court later overturned this, sending the dispute to arbitration on September 24, 2021.
Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha had to decide if the case could go to arbitration given the fraud claims. They concluded that the fraud allegations were too serious and the deed's authenticity too doubtful for arbitration to be fitting.
On February 2, 2026, the Supreme Court decided that the dispute couldn't be settled through arbitration because of the serious fraud claims. They overturned the High Court's order to send the case to arbitration and supported the decision to reject Rajia's request for appointing an arbitrator.
