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07.04.2026 05.05.2026 -- 05.05.2026 AFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH, BILASPUR ARBA No. 13 of 2018

1 - M/s Kripa Road Lines, A Registered Partnership Firm Under The Indian Partnership Act, Having Its Office At Near SBI Sarkanda Branch, Sarkanda, Bilaspur, Through Its One of The Partners Shri Shrawan Kumar Soni, S/o Shri Santosh Soni, Aged

38 Years, R/o Telipara, Bilaspur, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.

... Appellant versus

1 - M/s NTPC Limited/Sipat STPP, A Sipat Super Thermal Power Project At Ujjwal Nagar, Sipat, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh Having Its Registered Office At NTPC Bhawan, Through Its Secretary, Scope Complex 7, Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi Through Its DGM (CS) Ujjwal Nagar, Sipat Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.

... Respondent For Appellant : Mr. Y.C. Sharma, Sr. Advocate with Mr.

Assem Bhagat Gopal, Advocate.

For Respondent : Mr. Prafull N. Bharat, Sr. Advocate with Mr.

Anuroop Panda, Advocate.

D.B. : Hon'ble Smt. Justice Rajani Dubey & Hon’ble Shri Justice Radhakishan Agrawal (CAV Order)

Per Rajani Dubey, J

1. The respondent/Appellant herein has filed this arbitration appeal under Section 13(1) of the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Court Act 2015 (for short ‘the Commercial Act’) against order dated 23.12.2017 passed by the learned Commercial Court (District Level), Naya Raipur (C.G.) in M.J.C. No.02/2017, whereby the application preferred by the respondent/appellant under Section 34 against the arbitral award dated 18.10.2016 passed by the learned Sole Arbitrator, was dismissed.

2. The appellant - M/s Kripa Road Lines herein was the respondent, and respondent -NTPC herein was the claimant before the learned Sole Arbitrator & the parties in this appeal shall be referred herein as per their description before the learned Sole Arbitrator.

3. Brief facts of the case, as projected by the respondent – M/s Kripa Road Lines, are that claimant - NTPC had issued a Tender vide Reference No. SIPAT/CS/2012- 2013/12650/1329011 for loading and transportation of coal by road from Old Dipka Mines to Dipka wharf wall and thereafter reloading the same into MGR wagons. The respondent submitted its bid, which was opened on 29.03.2012, and being the lowest bidder, the claimant issued a Brief Award Letter dated 06.04.2013 accepting the respondent’s offer for a total contract value of Rs.78,57,000/-. Under the contract, the date of commencement of work was deemed to be 13.04.2013 and the date of completion was fixed as 12.05.2013. During this period, the respondent was required to transport a total quantity of 1,00,000 MT of coal. Thereafter, on 18.04.2013, the claimant issued a Service Purchase Order to the respondent, annexing thereto the Bill of Quantity, Terms and Conditions, Break-up of Price, Scope of Work, Service Specifications, Special Conditions of Contract, and Proforma of Certificate. The terms and conditions contained a dispute resolution clause providing that all disputes arising out of the contract would be settled in accordance with Clauses 56.0.0 and 57.0.0 of the General Conditions of Contract (GCC), and that the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 would govern the arbitration proceedings, with the Arbitrator being required to render a reasoned and speaking award. Clause 1.4 of the Special Conditions of Contract further provided that the General Conditions of Contract for Civil Works would form part of the contract. Subsequently, on 06.05.2013, a formal agreement was executed between the parties, pursuant to which the respondent commenced loading, transporting, and reloading the coal into MGR wagons.

4. On 11.05.2013, the respondent discovered that the weighbridge used for recording the weight of the wagons was defective and was reflecting lesser weight of coal. The respondent immediatel