JUDGMENT

Vibhu Bakhru, J. - The petitioner has filed the present petition under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereafter the "A&C Act"), inter alia, praying that the operation of the letter dated 22.04.2021, whereby the respondent has rejected the petitioner's tender and blacklisted it for a period of one year from participating in any CPWD tenders, be stayed.

2. The disputes between the parties stem from the tender floated by the respondent for "Comprehensive Maintenance Work at CGO Complex Lodhi Road, New Delhi 2020-23 (SH: Civil and Electric work)". On 03.12.2020, the respondent (hereafter the "CPWD") issued a Notice Inviting Tenders (NIT) for providing comprehensive maintenance of the CGO Complex, which houses offices of various organisations of the Central Government. The petitioner's bid was the lowest and by a Letter of Acceptance dated 30.12.2020 (hereafter the "LoA"), CPWD accepted the petitioner's tender at a value of Rs.18,31,33,102/-.

3. In terms of the NIT, the successful bidder was required to submit a Performance Guarantee within a period of seven days from the date of the LoA. The petitioner was also required to submit documents from the Assoc