M S ISC PROJECTS PRIVATE LIMITED vs STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA LIMITED

Judgment text excerpt

$~J-1 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Decided on: 21.02.2025. + O.M.P. (COMM) 370/2021, I.A. 17061/2021 & I.A. 9346/2022 M/S ISC PROJECTS PRIVATE LIMITED .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Dayan Krishnan, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Rishi Agrawala, Ms. Aarushi Tiku, Mr. Vikram Choudhary, Mr. Naman Agarwal, Mr. Nilay Gupta, Mr. Sukrit Seth, Advocates. versus STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA LIMITED .....Respondent Through: Mr. Jayant Mehta, Sr. Advocate with Ms. Priyanka Goswami, Ms. Anusuya Sadhu Sinha, Mr. Tavdeep Singh, Mr. Archit A., Advocates. CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE PRATEEK JALAN JUDGMENT 1. The present petition, under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 [“the Act”], arises out of an arbitral award dated 12.03.2020, passed by a three-member arbitral tribunal. The arbitral tribunal has adjudicated disputes between the parties under a contract agreement dated 18.08.2010, for railway track work for an internal yard at the respondent’s Bhilai Steel Plant. Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed O.M.P. (COMM) 370/2021 Page 1 of 21 By:SHITU NAGPAL Signing Date:22.02.2025 20:19:28 2. By this judgment, I propose to dispose of the first objection raised on behalf of the petitioner, which is that the award is liable to be set aside as it is signed by only two of the three arbitrators, without any explanation in the award for the omission of the signature of the third arbitrator. A. Facts and Litigation History: 3. The parties entered into the contract agreement on 18.08.2010. The agreement contained an arbitration clause [Clause 46.2], the relevant extracts of which are set out below: “46.2 Arbitration 46.2.1 Conciliation shall be resorted to prior to invoking Arbitration. The applicable rules for Conciliation proceedings shall be that of “SCOPE forum of Concil