Judgment

Sanjeev Kumar, J.-This is a petition under Section 34 of the Jammu & Kashmir Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1997 [“the Act of 1997”] filed by the petitioner for setting aside the award dated 18.09.2002 passed by K.Thiruvengadam, the sole arbitrator, appointed by the parties to arbitrate and adjudicate upon the disputes pertaining to the agreement No.GE/AKH-48/95-96 entered into between the petitioner and the respondents.

2. Before adverting to the grounds of challenge urged on behalf of the petitioner to assail the arbitral award, it would be appropriate to notice few facts:

Vide contract agreement aforementioned, the work of Special Repair to E/M Installations at Rakh Muthi, Jourian and Pallanwala was allotted by the respondents to the petitioner. During execution of the contract, certain disputes arose between the parties and as a result whereof, the respondent terminated the contract. The disputes having arisen between the parties, the competent authority i.e. Chief Engineer, Udhampur Zone vide his letter dated 2306.2001 appointed K.Thiruvengadam ACE(Planning) CE, Udhampur zone as sole arbitrator to adjudicate upon the disputes pertaining to the contract. The arbitra