JUDGMENT :

Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal arises from a judgment and order of a learned Single Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh dated 30 November 2016 where it appointed an Arbitrator in the dispute between the parties, in an application¹[“AC No 1 of 2015”] filed by the respondent under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 ²[“1996 Act”].

3. The genesis of the matter is from when the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board ³ [“Board”], entered into a Power Purchase Agreement ⁴[“PPA”] on 20 May 1999 with the respondent. Under the PPA, the respondent was to establish a mini hydro-electric project on a built and operate basis. However, the PPA was terminated on 27 September 2001 by the Board. The respondent initially filed a writ petition ⁵[“WP No 2642 of 2002”] challenging the termination of the PPA. The High Court, by its order dated 4 November 2009, declined to entertain the petition in view of an arbitration agreement contained in Clause 12. 3⁶[“12.3 Arbitration:

(a) If dispute cannot be salted within Thirty (30)days mutual discussions as (sic) by section 12.1 and (sic) to Conciliation is not elected by the Parties pursuant to Secti