Karnataka High Court Suprada Constructions (P) Ltd vs The Managing Director on 21 September, 2022 1 DATED THIS THE 21st DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2022 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS PETITION NO.197 OF 2018 BETWEEN: SUPRADA CONSTRUCTIONS (P) LTD., (FORMERLY KNOWN AS SUPRADA CONSTRUCTION CO.) NO. 336, 2ND FLOOR, 7TH CROSS, 14TH MAIN R.M.V. EXTENSION, SADASHIVANAGAR BENGALURU 560 080. REPRESENED BY SHRI NARAYANA M SETTY MANAGING DIRECTOR. ...PETITIONER (BY SRI. VIKRAM HUILGOL, SR. COUNSEL FOR SRI. ADITYA BHAT, ADVOCATE) AND: 1. THE MANAGING DIRECTOR HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS LTD., VIMANAPURA POST BENGALURU 560 017. 2. THE CHIEF MANAGER (WORKS) FMD HINDUSTHAN AERONAUTICS LTD., VIMANAPURA POST BENGALURU 560 017. (R1 & 2 DELETED AS PER ORDER DATED: 21.09.2022) 3. THE ZONAL MANAGER SOUTH ZONE, NPCC LIMITED HOUSE NO. 1316 KHB COLONY, MAGADI ROAD BENGALURU 560 037. ...RESPONDENTS (BY SRI. HAREESH BHANDARY, ADVOCATE FOR R3 R1 AND R2 ARE DELETED V/O/DT: 21.09.2022) 2 THIS C.M.P. IS FILED UNDER SECTION 11(5) & (6) OF THE ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION ACT 1996, PRAYING TO A) APPOINT A SOLE ARBITRATOR TO ADJUDICATE UPON THE DISPUTE BETWEEN THE PARTIES AS PROVIDED IN THE AGREEMENT DATED: 01.07.2006 VIDE ANNEXUREA BETWEEN RESPONDENT NOS. 1, 2 & AND MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN RESPONDENT NO.3 AND PETITIONER DATED: 02.03.2006 VIDE ANNEXUREB AND ETC. THIS C.M.P. COMING ON FOR ADMISSION THIS DAY, THE COURT MADE THE FOLLOWING: ORDER The present petition under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, has been filed by the petitionerSuprada Constructions (P) Ltd., against the respondentThe Zonal Manager, seeking appointment of an Arbitrator in pursuance of Arbitration Clause of the Articles of the Agreement dated 01.07.2006 vide AnnexureA. 2. Clause5 of the said Agreement, which contains an Arbitration clause, reads as under: "5. In the event of any dispute arising in connection with this Contract, it is further agreed that such disputes shall be referred to the sole arbitration of an Engineer Officer to be appointed by the Managing Director of the Company. In case of 3 PSU, DPE's Guidelines dated 221.2004 shall be followed." 3. The material on record discloses that since disputes arose between the parties in relation to the aforesaid Agreement dated 01.07.2006 containing the aforesaid arbitration agreement at Clause No.5, on 15.11.2017, the petitioner invoked the aforesaid arbitration clause and issued a notice to the respondent putting forth various claims and contentions and calling upon the respondent to give their concurrence / consent to refer the dispute to arbitration. 4. The respondent sent a reply dated 07.12.2017 through their lawyer disputing and denying the claims and contentions of the petitioner and informing them that they do not concur with terms and conditions of the legal notice issued by the petitioner dated 15.11.2017. 5. Subsequently, the parties have not only failed to resolve their disputes but they have also not reached any consensus / agreement for appointment of an arbitrator and 4 as such, petitioner are before this Court by way of the present petition. 6. In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, though several contentions have been urged by both sides in support of their respective claims, without expressing any opinion on the merits / demerits of the rival contentions, I deem it just and appropriate to allow this petition by referring the dispute between the parties to arbitration with the consent of both sides by appointing Hon'ble Justice A.V. Chandrashekar, Former Judge, High Court of Karnataka, to act as the sole Arbitrator to resolve the dispute between the parties under the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, as per the Rules governing the Arbitration and Conciliation Centre (Domestic & International) at Bengaluru. 7. In the result, I pass the following ORDER (i) Petition is hereby allowed. (ii) Hon'ble Justice A.V. Chandrashekar, Former Judge, High Court of Karnataka, 5 Supreme Court of India, is hereby a