N. K. Construction and Suppliers v. The Union of India and 4 Ors

ORDER Date : 14-05-2024 Heard Mr. G.N. Sahewalla, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Ms. K. Sarma, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. H. Gupta, learned CGC for the respondents.

¶2By filing this application under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), the petitioner prays for appointment of a sole arbitrator to adjudicate the differences between the parties as stipulated in the agreement entered by the parties on 16.03.2016. Referring the Clause 25(ii) of Agreement, the learned Senior Counsel submits that the provision for appointing sole arbitrator has been stipulated and accordingly, this Court may appointment a sole arbitrator.

¶3Mr. H. Gupta, learned CGC on the other hand submits that for the additional work carried out by the contractor and the claims made towards the work executed, the matter was referred to the Tender Evaluation Committee for their considered view. According to the instructions he has received, the Tender Evaluation Committee is of the view that the claims made by the contractor are beyond the provisions of the Contract Agreement and the negotiation attempted Page No.# 3/3 was without any success.

¶4In view of what has been submitted as recorded hereinabove, this Court deems it appropriate to appoint Hon'ble Mr. Justice (Retd.) Mir Alfaz Ali, a former judge of this Court to be the sole arbitrator.

¶5Let a notice under Section 11 (8) of the Act be issued to the appointed sole arbitrator seeking disclosure in terms of the Sub-Section (1) of Section 12 of the Act.

¶6It is further provided herein that if any difficulty is expressed on the part of the appointed arbitrator, the petitioner will be at liberty to file appropriate application for appointment of another arbitrator. But for the above observations, the arbitration petition stands disposed of. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010231332023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oArb.P./44/2023o N.oK.oCONSTRUCTIONoANDoSUPPLIERSo AoPROPRIETORSHIPoFIRMoHAVINGoITSoOFFICEoAToSEUNIoALI,oOPPOSITEo SBI,oBORPOOL,oA.T.oROAD,oJORHAT-785001o(ASSAM)oANDoISoREPRESENTED BYoNANDoKISHOREoRATHIoWHOoISoTHEoPROPRIETORoOFoTHEoPETITIONERo PROPRIETORIALoCONCERNoANDoISoR/OoSEUNIoALI,oA.T.oROAD,oJORHAT,o ASSAM VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo4oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONER,oMINISTRYoOFoWATERo RESOURCESoRIVERoDEVELOPMENToANDoGANGAoREJUVENATION,o2NDo FLOOR,oBLOCK-3,oCGOoCOMPLEX,oLODHIoROAD,oNEWoDELHI-110003 2:THEoBRAHMAPUTRAoBOARD oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCHAIRMAN oBRAHMAPUTRAoBOARD oBASISTHA oGUWAHATI-781029 3:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER-II oBRAHMAPUTRAoBOARD oBASISTHA oGUWAHATI-781029 4:THEoSUPERINTENDINGoENGINEER oBRAHMAPUTRAoBOARD oJORHAToCIRCLE oDISTRICT-JORHAT-785001 oASSAM 5:THEoEXECUTIVEoENGINEER Page No.# 2/3 BRAHMAPUTRA BOARD LAKHIMPUR DIVISION NORTH LAKHIMPUR ASSA Advocate for the Petitioner : MR G N SAHEWALLA Advocate for the Respondent : DY.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE NELSON SAILO