M/S. ARSS INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS LTD. vs NATIONAL HIGHWAY AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LTD

Judgment text excerpt

* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Reserved on : 12.02.2025 Pronounced on : 10.03.2025 + ARB.P. 1843/2024 M/S. ARSS INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS LTD......Petitioner Through: Mr. Ramesh Singh, Sr. Advocate with Ms. Monisha Handa, Mr. Rajul Shrivastav and Ms. Hange Nanya, Advocates. versus NATIONAL HIGHWAY AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LTD .....Respondent Through: Mr. Mritunjay Kr. Singh, Mr. Saikat Khatna, Mr. Harsh Garg, Mr. Akash Soni, Mr. Rajiv Vijay Mishra and Mr. Rajeev Kumar Gupta, Advs. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANOJ KUMAR OHRI JUDGMENT 1. The instant petition has been preferred under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter, referred to as the „A&C Act‟), seeking appointment of Arbitral Tribunal (hereafter, referred to as „AT‟) to adjudicate the disputes between the parties. 2. The petition has been premised on the fact that in pursuance of an award of work by the respondent to the petitioner, an EPC Agreement was executed on 09.12.2020. Later, on disputes having arisen between the parties, the respondent issued notice to terminate the Agreement on Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed ARB.P. 1843/2024 Page 1 of 10 By:GAUTAM ASWAL Signing Date:10.03.2025 18:00:32 25.05.2023. The petitioner contends that Clause 26.2 of the said Agreement provided for dispute resolution and in particular, Clause 26.3 provided for resolution of disputes through the arbitration. In terms of the said clause, the Contractor being registered in India, the venue of the arbitration would be in Delhi. It is further contended that the Agreement also envisages that prior to such reference, the parties would attempt conciliation and, in this regard, would approach the Authority‟s Engineer (Conciliator) to mediate and assist the authorities