$~8 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + ARB.P. 1560/2025 MUNZAREEN AHMAD .....Petitioner Through:

versus DTTDC LTD .....Respondent Through: Mr. Aditya P. Khanna, Ms. Arushi Jindal, Advocates CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASMEET SINGH

O R D E R

% 18.12.2025

1. This is a petition filed under Section 11(5) and (6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 seeking appointment of an Arbitrator for adjudication of disputes between the parties.

2. The brief facts of the case are that the petitioner being the successful bidder was awarded a contract for construction of conference room, boundary wall and extension MP hall and upgradation and face lifting of the existing MP hall at Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya (RPVV) at Raj Niwas Marg, Delhi – 110054 vide Letter dated 05.11.2021. Pursuant to this an Agreement bearing No. 03/EE(PB)DTTDC/2021-

2022 was executed between the parties.

3. The General Conditions of Contract contained an arbitration clause being Clause No. 25 which reads as under:-

“25.2 Arbitration: If the aforesaid conciliation proceedings fail or the Conciliator fails to give proposal for settlement within the aforesaid period, either party may promptly give notice in the proforma prescribed in Appendix XVIII under intimation to the other party, to the Chief Engineer or the Superintending Engineer concerned with the work (as applicable), hereinafter referred to as the Arbitrator Appointing Authority as indicated in Schedule F, for appointment of Arbitrator.

However, a party may seek appointment of Arbitrator without taking recourse to the process of conciliation mentioned in sub-clause 25.1 above.

In the event of either party giving a notice to the Arbitrator Authority for appointment of Arbitrator, the said authority shall appoint Arbitrator as per the procedure given below and refer such disputes to arbitration.

(a) Number of Arbitrators: If the contract amount is less than Rs. 100 crore, the disputes may be referred for adjudication by a sole Arbitrator. If the contract amount is Rs. 100 crore or more, the disputes may be referred to an Arbitral Tribunal of three Arbitrators.

(b) Qualification of Arbitrators: It is a term of this contract that each member of the Arbitral Tribunal shall be Graduate Engineer with experience in execution of public works engineering contracts, and he should have worked earlier at a level not lower than the Chief Engineer (equivalent to level of Joint Secretary to the Government of India).

The aforesaid educational qualification and work experience shall be mandatory for appointment as Arbitrator.

The age of Arbitrator at the time of appointment shall not exceed 70 years. An Arbitrator may be appointed notwithstanding the total number of active arbitration cases with him.

(c) Parties to select Arbitrator: Based on the criteria specified above, a list of empanelled Arbitrators has been prepared in CPWD, and the parties shall have option to select an Arbitrator from the list sent to them.

25.3 Appointment of Sole Arbitrator: The parties may opt for appointment of the Arbitrator of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. In such cases, the party seeking arbitration has to submit an express agreement in writing as per Appendix XIX towards waiver of Section 12(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 along with the notice for appointment of Arbitrator in the proforma prescribed In Appendix XVIII, under Intimation to the other party. The Arbitrator Appointing Authority shall, within 30 days of receipt of the said notice, appoint Arbitrator of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs as Arbitrator in the matter, provided the other party also submits waiver of Section 12(5), ibid in Appendix XIX within 7 days of the receipt of the said notice.

Where any one of the parties does not opt for the Arbitrator of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, or does not submit the waiver agreement, the Arbitrator Appointing Authority shall propose five Arbitrators from the list of CPWD Empanelled Arb