The Court exercises its power to appoint a sole arbitrator when parties reach a consensus or fail to agree, provided the appointee submits a declaration of independence and impartiality under Section 12(1) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

ORDER:

Heard Mr. N. Manohar, learned counsel for the applicants and Mr. P. Jagadeeshwar Reddy, learned counsel for respondent Nos.2 and 5.

2. By order dated 19.06.2026, this Court proposed to appoint Smt. K. Sailaja, retired Principal District Judge, as an independent Arbitrator to adjudicate the dispute between the parties. The order dated 19.06.2026 is extracted hereunder for easy reference:

“Ms. Nisha Padmanabhan, learned counsel appears for Mr. N. Manohar, learned counsel for applicants.
Mr. P. Jagadeswar Reddy, learned counsel appears for respondent Nos.2 and 5.
Heard learned counsel for the parties.
This Arbitration Application has been made by the land owners under Development Agreement cum General Power of Attorney dated 03.08.2019 for appointment of a sole arbitrator under Clause 17 thereof. Initially, the respondents in reply to the notice dated 27.12.2025 had refused to agree to the name of the arbitrator as proposed by the applicants.
On appearance, in the present application, the parties have arrived at a consensus that this Court may appoint a sole arbitrator to adjudicate the dispute between the parties.
In that view of the matter, I therefore propose to appoint Smt. K. Sailaja, retired Principal District Judge (Resident of Flat No.102, Hunsvilla Apartments, Mettuguda, Secunderabad, Hyderabad-500017; Mobile No. 9885879759), as sole arbitrator to adjudicate the dispute between the parties. The proposed Arbitrator is requested to submit her consent and a declaration in terms of Section 12(1) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 read with Schedule VI of the said Act.
Registry is directed to communicate this order to the proposed Arbitrator.
The matter be listed after three (3) weeks with the response, if any, of the proposed Arbitrator.”

3. The proposed Arbitrator has submitted his consent along with a declaration under Section 12(1) read with Schedule VI of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (for short, ‘the Act’) by letter dated 29.06.2026.

4. Learned counsel for the applicant, therefore, submits that appointment of the proposed Arbitrator may be confirmed.

5. In that view of the matter, I hereby appoint Smt. K. Sailaja, retired Principal District Judge (Resident of Flat No.102, Hunsvilla Apartments, Mettuguda, Secunderabad, Hyderabad-500017; Mobile No. 9885879759), to act as an independent Arbitrator in respect of the dispute between the parties.

6. Registry is directed to serve a xerox copy of the entire pleadings to the learned Arbitrator. The learned Arbitrator is requested to keep in mind the fee prescribed in Schedule IV of the Act and the time limit prescribed under Section 29A of the Act.

7. The Arbitration Application is, accordingly, disposed of.

Miscellaneous applications pending, if any, shall stand closed.