M/S NK TOLL ROAD LTD vs NATIONAL HIGHWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA

Judgment text excerpt

$~ * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Reserved on: 17th April, 2026 Pronounced on: 27th April, 2026 + ARB. A. (COMM.) 12/2026 & I.A. 1379/2026 M/S NK TOLL ROAD LTD. .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Ankur Kashyap, Mr. Hasan Murtaza, Mr. Aman Bajaj, Mr. Sameer Sharma, Mr. Aman Bajaj, Mr. Purushartha Singh, Mr. Ankit Kr. Singh and Mr. Siddharth Dua, Mr. Jaideep Khot, Advs. M: 9289037441 versus NATIONAL HIGHWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA .....Respondent Through: Mr. Nishant Awana, Ms. Rini Badoni and Ms. Nitya Sharma, Advs. M: 7838760760 CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MINI PUSHKARNA JUDGMENT MINI PUSHKARNA, J. Background 1. The present appeal has been filed under Section 37(2)(b) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Arbitration Act”) against the interim order dated 03rd January, 2026 (“impugned order”), passed in the on-going arbitration proceedings, titled as “N.K. Toll Road Limited Versus National Highway Authority of India”. The Arbitral Tribunal, vide the impugned order, disposed of the application of the appellant/claimant/concessionaire, i.e., N.K. Toll Road Limited, filed under Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:HARIOM SHARMA ARB. A. (COMM.) 12/2026 Page 1 of 19 Signing Date:27.04.2026 17:49:51 Section 17 of the Arbitration Act, seeking stay on the operation and effect of the Cure Period Notice dated 07th October, 2025, issued by the respondent, namely, National Highway Authority of India (“NHAI”) under Articles 32.1.1 and 32.1.3 of the Concession Agreement dated 30th January, 2006 (“Concession Agreement”), executed between the parties. 2. More particularly, the Arbitral Tribunal restrained the respondent from taking any action with respect to the breaches/defaults alleged by it in Para 9(a)(i) to (iii) of the Cure Period Notice, since the said allegations