HINDUSTAN CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LTD vs INDIAN STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVES LTD

Judgment text excerpt

$~5 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Date of decision 07th May, 2025 + ARB.P. 1854/2024 HINDUSTAN CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LTD .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Sameer Parekh, Mr. Sumit Goel, Mr. Jayant Bajaj and Ms. Ruchi Krishna Chauhan, Advocates. versus INDIAN STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVES LTD .....Respondent Through: Mr. Dinesh Pardasani, Mr. Siddharth Chechani and Mr. Amrit Singh, Advocates. CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE JYOTI SINGH JUDGEMENT JYOTI SINGH, J. (Oral) 1. This petition is filed on behalf of the Petitioner under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘1996 Act’) seeking appointment of a Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties. 2. As set out in the petition, case of the Petitioner is that it was awarded a Contract by the Respondent vide Letter of Acceptance dated 29.12.2009 for civil works for underground rock caverns for strategic storage of crude oil at Padur, Karnataka. Total value of the Contract was Rs. 374,65,80,000/-, which was divided into lump sum of Fixed Costs and Variable Costs. Formal Contract was signed on 30.07.2010 with original stipulated date of completion, being 29.03.2012. Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:KAMAL KUMAR ARB.P. 1854/2024 Page 1 of 6 Signing Date:10.05.2025 19:21:06 3. It is averred that disputes arose between the parties and on 24.02.2017, Petitioner invoked arbitration in terms of Clause 9.0.1.0 of GCC, but receiving no response, it filed a petition in this Court under Section 11 of 1996 Act for appointment of an Arbitrator being ARB.P. 403/2017, which was allowed on 24.07.2017 appointing a Sole Arbitrator. Award was rendered by the learned Arbitrator on 26.06.2021 awarding a sum of Rs. 35,99,86,464/- along with 9% interest in favour of the Petitioner but rejecting so