JUDGMENT

Uanup Jairam Bhambhani, J. (Oral)

Arb. P. 802/2021

1. By way of the present petition under section 11 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act 1996 ('A&C Act' for short), the petitioner seeks appointment of an arbitrator to adjudicate upon the disputes that are stated to have arisen with the respondent from Contract dated 09.01.2012 (`contract' for short).

2. Notice on this petition was issued on 24.08.2021; consequent to which the respondent has filed its counter-affidavit dated 21.04.2022.

3. Ms. Sunanda Tulsyan, learned counsel for the petitioner has invited the attention of this court to clause 8.2 of the General Conditions of Contract (`GCCs' for short) annexed to the contract which comprises the arbitration agreement between the parties. Clause 8.2(a) contemplates reference of disputes between the parties to arbitration in accordance with the A&C Act; and clause 8.2(b) provides that arbitration proceedings shall be held in New Delhi.

4. At this point, it would be relevant to extract the relevant clauses of the contract, including the GCCs and the Special Conditions of Contract (`SCCs' for short), which read as follows:

General Conditions of Contract

"8. SETTLEME