2026:CGHC:6014 AFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR ARBR No. 28 of 2025 M/s Tata Projects Ltd Having Its Registered Office At Corporate Centre, 3rd Floor, Building Block B, 34 Sant Tukaram Road, Carnac Bunder, Mumbai

400009 And Its Corporate Office At 14th - 15th Floor, Cignus, Plot No. 71A, Kailash Nagar, Mayur Nagar, Passpoli Powai, Mumbai 400087 Represented Through Its Power Of Attorney Holder Shri Rahul Jadwani ... Applicant versus

1- Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society Having Its Registered O SDC Building, 2nd Floor, Near Police Control Room, Civil Lines, Raipur, Chhattisgarh 492001 Represented Through Its Chief Executive Officer

2- State Of Chhattisgarh Through Secretary, Department Of Electronics And Information Technology, Mahanadi Bhawan, Mantralaya, Nava Raipur Atal Nagar, District - Raipur, Chhattisgarh

3- Union of India Through The Secretary, Department Of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Sanchar Bhawan, 20 Ashoka Road, New Delhi –

110001 ... Respondent(s)

For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Tushad Cooper, Senior Advocate assisted by Ms. Shrishti Kumar and Mr. Abhishek Vinod Deshmukh, Advocates.

For Respondent(s) : Mr. Abhishek Sinha, Senior Advocate assisted by Mr. Rishabh Garg, Advocate.

For Respondent No. 2 : Mr. S.S.Baghel, Government Advocate.

For Respondent No. 3 : Mr. Ramakant Mishra, Deputy Solicitor General alongwith Mr. Tushar Dhar Diwan and Mr.

Rishabh Deo Singh, Advocates.

Date of Hearing : 22.01.2026 Date of Judgment : 03.02.2026 Hon’ble Mr. Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice

C A V Order

1. Heard Mr. Tushad Cooper, Senior Advocate assisted by Ms. Shrishti Kumar and Mr. Abhishek Vinod Deshmukh, learned counsel for the Applicant. Also heard Mr. Abhishek Sinha, Senior Advocate assisted by Mr. Rishabh Garg, learned counsel for the Respondent No. 1, Mr. S.S.Baghel, learned Government Advocate for the Respondent No. 2 as well as Mr. Ramakant Mishra, learned Deputy Solicitor General alongwith Mr. Tushar Dhar Diwan and Mr. Rishabh Deo Singh, learned counsel for the Respondent No. 3.

2. By this application under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (for short, the Act of 1996), the Applicant has prayed for the following relief(s):

“a) Appoint an independent and impartial person as the second arbitrator towards constitution of the arbitration tribunal under and in connection with the Master Services Agreement dated 18 July 2018;

b) Pass any such other order(s) as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.”

3. The facts, as projected by the Applicant are that the Applicant is a Company incorporated under the provisions of Companies Act, 1956. It is one of India’s leading Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies with over 45 years of experience in executing large and complex urban and industrial infrastructure projects, and provides turnkey solutions for construction of roads, bridges, rail and metro systems, commercial buildings, airports, power plants, transmission and distribution systems, chemical process plants, water and waste management, and mining systems. The Respondent No. 1, Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (for short, the CHiPS), is a registered Society promoted by the Government of Chhattisgarh. Respondent No. 1 is the nodal agency for propelling Information Technology (IT) growth and implementation of IT plans in the State and acts as the State Designated Agency (for short, the SDA) for implementation of the Bharat-Net Project. The Respondent No. 2, State of Chhattisgarh is implementing the Bharat- Net Project through Respondent No. 1 and is the beneficiary of the Project including the works performed under the Master Services Agreement (for short, the MSA) and was directly monitoring the execution of the Project. The Respondent No. 3 is Union of India, Department of Telecommunications.

4. Bharat-Net Project is one of the flagship schemes of the Respondent No.

3 launched to provide broadband connectivity to 2.5 la