IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of decision: 15.05.2026 M/s Lord Shiva Construction Company Pvt. Ltd.

….Applicant Versus State of Haryana and others ….Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SHEEL NAGU, CHIEF JUSTICE Present: Mr. Ankit Grewal, Advocate, for the applicant.

Ms. Ruchi Sekhri, Addl. A.G., Haryana.

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SHEEL NAGU, CHIEF JUSTICE( Oral )

1. Instant application u/s 11 (6) of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (for short, ‘1996 Act’), seeks appointment of Arbitrator/Arbitrators.

2. Reply filed by respondent Nos. 1 to 5 perused.

3. The applicant was allotted the work vide letter of allotment dated 25.07.2018 and pursuant thereto, the parties entered into Agreement No. 19 of 2017-2018. The said agreement contains a dispute redressal and arbitration mechanism under Clauses 24.1 to 24.3 of the General Conditions of Contract (GCC), which are reproduced hereunder: -

“24. Dispute Redressal System

24.1 If any dispute or difference of any kind whatsoever shall arise in connection with or arising out of this contract or the execution of Works or maintenance of the Works there under, whether before its commencement or during the progress of Works or after the termination, abandonment or breach of the contract, it shall, in the first instance, be referred for settlement to the competent authority, described alongwith their powers in the contract data. The competent authority shall, within a period of forty-five days after being requested in writing by the Contractor to do so, convey his decision to the contractor. Such decision in respect of every matter so referred shall, subject to review as hereinafter provided, be final and binding upon the Contractor. In case the Works is already in progress, the Contractor shall proceed with the execution of works, including Maintenance thereof, pending receipt of the decision of the competent authority as aforesaid, with all due diligence.

24.2 Either party will have the right of appeal, against the decision of the competent authority to arbitrator within a period of 28 days from decision of the competent authority. Either party may give notice to the other for refer a decision of the competent authority to an Arbitrator within 28 days of the Competent Authority written decision. If neither party refers the dispute to arbitration within the next 28 days, the Competent Authority decision will be final and binding.

24.3 The Arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with the arbitration procedure stated in the Special Conditions of Contract.”

3.1 In terms of Clause 24.3 of the GCC, the arbitration proceedings are governed by the arbitration procedure contained in Section 3 of the Special Conditions of Contract, reproduced hereunder: -

"ARBITRATION (GCC Clause 24.3)

(a) Every party will have the right to appeal against of the order of competent authority to the arbitrational/ tribunal, which will be settled in accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. In case the amount of work is less than Rs. 10.00 crores, the matter will be adjudicated by sole arbitrator otherwise by a tribunal of 3 arbitrators. The contractor while invoking arbitration the claimant shall deposit with Engineer a claim fee of @ 2% of the claim amount. On termination of the arbitrator proceedings, "this fee shall be adjusted in the cost, if any, awarded by the arbitrator (or arbitrator tribunal) against the claimant party and the balance remaining after such adjustment, and in the absence of such cost being awarded. The whole of the sum will be refunded within one month of the date of the award. In case of sole arbitrator, Engineer-in-Chief will appoint sole arbitrator from the list approved by the Govt. within 60 days from the receipt of application of the contractor. In case of arbitrator tribunal consisting of 3 arbitrators, one each to be appointed by the employer and the Contractor and the third Arbitrator to be chosen by the two Arbitrators so appointed by the Parties to act as Pres