JUDGMENT :

SANJEEV NARULA, J.

1. IRCTC by way of the present petition under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 [hereinafter ‘the Act’], seeks the setting aside of the interim arbitral award dated 15th December, 2020 [hereinafter ‘Impugned Award’], whereby, the learned Sole Arbitrator has allowed certain claims of the Respondent - Deepak & Co, the Claimant in the arbitration proceedings [hereinafter referred to as ‘DC’ or the ‘service provider’].

BRIEF FACTS:

2. The events giving rise to the present petition are summarized as follows:

The Tender:

2.1. DC is a private railway catering service provider, empaneled with IRCTC and entitled to be considered for allotment of temporary licenses on Category ‘A’ trains. Catering services in railways, which were being provided in a composite mode, were unbundled with the introduction of Railway Budget for 2016-17 by creating a distinction primarily between food preparation and distribution. In furtherance of the said restructuring plan, on 07th September, 2016, IRCTC published a limited tender inviting bids from empaneled parties for providing on-board catering services in respect of Train No. 12951-52/12953-54 (Rajdhani/August