Steelman Telecom Limited vs Power Grid Corporation Of India ... 2023 Latest Caselaw 3415 Del

Delhi High Court Steelman Telecom Limited vs Power Grid Corporation Of India ... on 14 August, 2023 $~J-2 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Judgment pronounced on: 14.08.2023 + ARB.P. 1064/2022 STEELMAN TELECOM LIMITED ..... Petitioner Through: Mr. Aniruddha Bhattacharya and Mr. Aditya S. Pandey, Advs. Versus POWER GRID CORPORATION OF INDIA LIMITED ......Respondent Through: Mr. Sudhir Nandrajog, Sr. Adv. along with Mr. Azmat H. Amanullah andMr. Hardik Choudhary, Advs. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SACHIN DATTA JUDGMENT SACHIN DATTA, J. 1. The present petition under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as "A&C Act") seeks appointment of a sole arbitrator to adjudicate the dispute between the parties. 2. The disputes between the parties have arisen with respect to the work executed by the petitioner in furtherance of tender bearing No. ERTCC/ C&MIl7-18/I-75/T-139/AMC_LMC/Pkg-C dated 23.02.2018 floated by the respondent and awarded to the petitioner for the "AMC of Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack Intracity and Talcher-Bhubaneswar Intercity OFC Network and Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed ARB.P. 1064/2022 Page 1 of 22 By:RADHA BISHT Signing Date:14.08.2023 17:39:02 LMC in various cities of Odisha for a period of three years". 3. Initially, a purchase order dated 12.10.2018 was issued by the respondent upon the petitioner. Clause 14 of the aforesaid purchase order incorporates the arbitration agreement, which is in the following terms:- ―14.0 ARBITRATION All disputes or differences in respect of which the decision, if any, of the Project Manager and/or the Head of the Implementing Authority has not become final or binding as aforesaid shall be settled by arbitration in the manner provided herein below: The arbitration shall be conducted by a sole arbitrator in case the amount of claim is less than Rs. 25 crore and by three member arbitral tribunal in case the amount of claim is greater than Rs. 25 Crore. Sole Arbitration The sole Arbitrator shall be chosen from a panel of empanelled Arbitrators maintained by POWERGRID. The same shall comprise of retired Judges and retired Senior executives of PSUs other than POWERGRID. Further, the choice of sole Arbitrator shall be governed by the amount of claim in the following manner: Sl. Claim Amount Work Experience/Qualifications No. 1.