DILIP BUILDCON LIMITED VARAHA INFRA LIMITED Vs. NATIONAL HIGHWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA THROUGH ITS CHAIRMAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This judgment was dictated in part on 2nd December, 2020, when further dictation was deferred at the request of Mr. Manoj Singh who desired to rely on certain documents which were not on record. Mr. Manoj Singh has forwarded certain compilations as well as the guidelines of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) regarding the appointment of arbitrators, by way of e-mail to the Court Master and the Court has permitted Mr. Manoj Singh to advance additional submissions on the basis thereof, which have been duly taken into consideration.

(2.) This petition, under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the "1996 Act") seeks the appointment of a Presiding Arbitrator, to complete the Arbitral Tribunal which would arbitrate on the disputes between the parties, as the arbitrators of the petitioner and the respondent have not been able to arrive at a consensus regarding the Presiding Arbitrator. The arbitration clause, in the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) Agreement dated 1st September, 2015, between the parties, reads as under:

(3.) It is not necessary, for the purposes of the present petition, to enter into the specifics of the controversies between the parties, as both parties agree, ad idem, that the controversies are arbitrable in nature. Attempts at settlement of the dispute by conciliation having failed, notice for the appointment of the arbitrator was issued by the petitioner to the respondent on 23rd December, 2019. Vide a subsequent communication dated 5th March, 2020, the petitioner suggested the name of Hon'ble Mr. Justice Ashok Bhan, a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India as its nominee arbitrator. The respondent, vide its response dated 6th March, 2020, named Mr. Maharaj Krishan Aggarwal as its nominee arbitrator.