NORTHN. RLY. ADMN., MIN.OF RAILWAY, N.D. vs PATEL ENGINEERING COMPANY LTD.

The Supreme Court referred the matter concerning the appointment of arbitrators under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 to a larger bench due to conflicting views in previous judgments, specifically Ace Pipeline Contracts (P) Ltd. v. Bharat Petroleum Corpn. Ltd. and Union of India v. Bharat Battery Mfg. Co. (P) Ltd. The court emphasized that the agreed procedure for appointing an arbitrator must be exhausted before resorting to judicial intervention, and that the court must consider the qualifications required by the parties' agreement when making an appointment. The outcome of the referral is pending further clarification on the interpretation of the relevant statutory provisions.