NATIONAL HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LTD (NHIDCL) vs NSPR VKJ JV & ORS.

Judgment text excerpt

$~ * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Date of Decision: 15th October, 2025 + O.M.P. (T) (COMM.) 44/2025 and I.A. 13797/2025 NATIONAL HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LTD (NHIDCL) .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Raj Shekhar Rao, Senior Advocate with Mr. Avneesh Garg, Mr. Rohit Rishi, Mr. Anshul, Mr. Utkarsh Sharma, Mr. Zahid Ahmad and Ms. Iptisha, Advocates. versus NSPR VKJ JV & ORS. .....Respondents Through: Dr. Amit George, Mr. Shashwat Kabi, Mr. Adhishwar Suri, Mr. Ganesh Chandra Kabi, Ms. Vartika Singhania, Mr. Aadarsh Mittal, Ms. Shristi Gupta and Ms. Subhashni Kumari, Advocates for R-1, 2 and 3. Mr. Sunny Choudhary, Advocate for R-4. Ms. Asmita Narula, Advocate for R-5. CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE JYOTI SINGH JUDGEMENT JYOTI SINGH, J. 1. This petition is filed on behalf of the Petitioner under Sections 14 and 15 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘1996 Act’) seeking termination of the mandate of the Presiding Arbitrator and for appointment of substitute Presiding Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes arising between the parties out of Engineering Procurement and Construction Agreement dated 05.09.2019 (‘EPC Agreement’). 2. To the extent relevant, case of the Petitioner is that an EPC Agreement was executed between the Petitioner, which is an enterprise Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:KAMAL KUMAR O.M.P. (T) (COMM.) 44/2025 Page 1 of 15 Signing Date:17.10.2025 14:40:29 under Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Respondent No. 1/M/s. NSPR-VKJ, which is a joint venture between NSPR Constructions (India) Pvt. Ltd./Respondent No. 2 and M/s Vinod Kumar Jain/Respondent No. 3, for Construction and Upgradation of Existing Road to 2-Lane with paved shoulder of Bagrakot to Kafer section of NH-717A from Km. 0.000 to Km. 13.000 on