JUDGMENT

Chandra Dhari Singh, J. The petitioner vide the present petition under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as `the Act') has been filed by the petitioner seeking the following prayers:

"a. Set aside Impugned Original Award read with Impugned Final Award passed by the Arbitral Tribunal comprising of Hon'ble Mr. Justice S.P. Garg (Retd.) dated 30.10.2019 and further be pleased to allow the counter claim raised by the Petitioner as against the Respondent for Rs.4,14,42,192/towards excess amount charged contrary to the Escalation clause under the agreement with 18% interest thereupon.

b. Pass an award in favour of the Respondent against the Respondent for a sum of Rs.2,00,00,000/- towards loss of goodwill caused to the Respondent Company.

c. Grant 18% interest from the date of filing of the instant counter claim till the date of actual payment.

d. Any other relief which this Hon'ble court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case in favour of the Petitioner."

FACTUAL MATRIX

2. The present petition is filed under Section 34 of the Act challenging the Arbitral Award dated 30th October, 2019 (hereinafter referred as `Impugned Award') read with the order dated 17th January, 2020 (hereinafter referred as Impugned Final Award) passed by the learned Arbitral Tribunal in the matter titled as M/s J.S. Enviro Infra Projects Ltd. v. M/s. A.G. Enviro Services Pvt. Ltd. and dismissed the application filed by the petitioner under section 33(2) of the Act and found no errors in the Award.

3. The petitioner and respondent are registered companies under the Companies Act, 1956 and are in business with regard to the Collection, Segregation, Transportation and Disposal of solid waste in different zones of the National Capital Region of Delhi. A Concession Agreement was entered between the petitioner and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for the Collection of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) on 31st January, 2005 which is provided for under Clause 5.5 of the Agreement. The Agreement was for Collection, Segregation, Transportation and Disposal of MSW.

4. As per Clause 5.7 of the Agreement between the petitioner and the MCD, the petitioner was permitted to engage a sub-contractor in accordance with the Operations and Maintenance Requirements. Thereafter, an Agreement was signed between the petitioner and respondent dated 1st May, 2015 whereby the petitioner on the basis of the contract entered with the MCD, further assigned the services to the claimant for transportation and disposal of MSW from municipal areas of Delhi to the identified landfill sites of MCD. The respondent was entitled to receive a "tipping fee" at the rate of Rs.475/- (excluding taxes) per tonne. The said "tipping fees" could be increased at the rate of 3.5% per annum after the completion of the first year of the contract. However, the legality of this Agreement is challenged by the petitioner who further submitted that the respondent company colluded with the employees of the petitioner with the intention to defraud the petitioner.

5. The invoices from April 2016 to January 2017 were paid by the petitioner. The said invoices included payment for both primary and secondary garbage collection. Further, TDS was deducted on the entire amount invoiced to the petitioner by the respondent till March 2017. The respondent has also raised the bills for the month of February 2017, March 2017 and April 2017 for Rs.3,58,32,470/- and out of the said amount only Rs.89,34,716/- has been paid by the petitioner on 3rd April, 2017 and the balance amount of Rs.2,49,79,751/- has not been paid by the petitioner, however, they have deducted and deposited TDS on the total amount of Rs.3,58,32,470/-. The said amount is also reflected in the list of creditors of the petitioner company.

6. Consequently, the respondent filed a Civil Suit (Comm.) 33 of 2018 dated 21st December, 2017 before this Court claiming therein an amount of