NATIONAL HIGHWAYS INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LTD vs SADGURU ENGINEERS AND ALLIED SERVICES PVT LTD & ORS.

Judgment text excerpt

$~111 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Date of decision: 19th May, 2026 + FAO(OS) (COMM) 83/2026, CM APPL. 21826/2026, CM APPL. 21827/2026, CM APPL. 21828/2026, CM APPL. 21829/2026 & CM APPL. 28908/2026 NATIONAL HIGHWAYS INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LTD .....Appellant Through: Mr. Rajshekhar Rao, Sr. Adv. (through VC) with Mr. Gopal Singh, Mr. Subham Janghu, Mr. Yoshit Jain & Ms. Ananya Diya, Advs. versus SADGURU ENGINEERS AND ALLIED SERVICES PVT LTD & ORS. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Amarjit Singh Chandhiok, Sr. Adv. with Mr. Srisatya Mohanty & Ms. Purva Kohli, Advs. for R-1. Mr. Jatin Sehgal, Mr. Ashish Garg & Mr. Shubham Aggarwal, Advs. for R-4. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DINESH MEHTA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VINOD KUMAR JUDGMENT DINESH MEHTA, J. (ORAL) 1. Instant appeal has been preferred under Section 37(1)(b) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act of 1996’) against judgement dated 24.02.2026 passed by the learned Single Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:NAVEEN KUMAR FAO(OS) (COMM) 83/2026 Page 1 of 9 Signing Date:19.05.2026 21:27:08 Judge, pursuant to an application under Section 9 of the Act of 1996 filed by the respondent. 2. The facts in detail have been noted by the learned Single Judge in the impugned order, hence, we are refraining from narrating those facts in detail. 3. The facts for the present purposes, briefly stated, are that the respondent emerged as the successful bidder and was awarded a contract for execution of balance work of four-laning of National Highway No.37 (Old), Jorhat-Jhanji stretch, under the EPC mode for Package-I (consisting the Road Works) and Package-IV (consisting the Structures & Toll Plaza). 4. On issuance of Letter of Acceptance (LoA) dated 15.01.2024, a Contra