there is no substance in the submission made by the learned counsel appearing for respondents that the applicants, being minor at the time of execution of the Trust Deed, were not party to the arbitration agreement. In my view, the minors who were beneficiaries, could not have signed the said Trust Deed, as were not capable of executing the said document on their own. It is, however, clear that Trust was created by the Settlor for their benefit, which contains arbitration clause and which agreement is acted upon by the parties not only when applicants and respondent Nos.4 to 6 wre minor and even after they became major. In my view, the definition of 'party' under Section 2(h) of the Act has to be interpreted harmoniously and the beneficiaries, who were referred in the said Trust Deed as beneficiaries which provides for referring all disputes to arbitration between the beneficiaries and Trustees and also beneficiaries inter-se, has to be construed as if the beneficiaries were also party to the arbitration agreement. It is not in dispute that the beneficiaries who are applicants in the present proceedings and respondent Nos.4 to 6 are now major. In my view, beneficiaries under the said Trust Deed are not only claiming through the Trustees when they were minor, but are claiming independently under the Trust Deed after attaining the age of majority and are thus, entitled to agitate the dispute having arisen between the applicants beneficiaries and the Trustees as well as beneficiaries inter-se by invoking arbitration clause recorded in the Trust Deed.
