Msa Nederland B.V vs M/S. Larsen & Toubro Ltd

The Supreme Court, in this judgment, addressed an application under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 for the appointment of a sole arbitrator in an international commercial arbitration. The Court clarified that under Section 11(9), the appointment of an arbitrator of a nationality other than that of the parties is discretionary, not mandatory, as indicated by the use of the word 'may'. Following precedents from Malaysian Airlines Systems BHD v. STIC Travels and Grid Corpn. Of Orissa Ltd. v. AES Corpn., the Court appointed Mr. Justice S.N. Variava as the sole arbitrator, emphasizing the non-mandatory nature of the nationality requirement.