The present petition under Section 11 (5) of the

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, has been filed by the

petitioner-

Nabros

Transport

Pvt.Ltd.

against

the

respondent- Bangalore Development Authority, seeking

appointment of a Sole Arbitrator in pursuance of Arbitration

Clause of the Contract Agreement dated 12.03.2013 vide

Annexure-G1.

2. Clause 24 - 'Procedure for resolution of Disputes'

in Conditions of Contract attached to the Contract

Agreement dated 12-03-2013 at Annexure G1 reads as

under:

24. Procedure for resolution of Disputes:

24.1 If the Contractor is not satisfied with the

decision taken by the Employer, the dispute shall be

referred by either party to Arbitration within 30 days

of the notification of the Employer's decision.

24.2 If neither party refers the dispute to Arbitration

within the above 30 days, the Employer's decision

will be final and binding.

3

24.3 The Arbitration shall be conducted in

accordance with the arbitration procedure stated in

the Special Conditions of Contract.

Sl.No.4 of the Special Conditions of Contract

attached to the Contract Agreement dated 12-03-2013 at

Annexure G1 reads as under:-

"4.

Arbitration (Clause 24)

“4.1 The procedure for arbitration shall be as

follows:

(a) In case of dispute or difference arising between

the Employer and the Contractor relating to any

matter arising out of or connected with this

agreement it shall be settled in accordance with the

Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996. The disputes

or differences shall be referred to a Sole Arbitrator.

The Sole Arbitrator shall be appointed by the

Commissioner, BDA, out of panel of arbitrators (who

shall be a Engineer) of Indian Council of Arbitration

or Indian Road Congress or National Highways

Authority of India.

(b)

Arbitration proceedings shall be held at

Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

(c)

The

cost

and

expenses

of

arbitration

proceedings will be paid as determined by the

Arbitrator. However the expenses incurred by each

party

in

connection

with

the

preparation,

4

presentation, etc., shall be borne by each party

itself.

(d)

Performance

under

the

contract

shall

continue during the arbitration proceedings and

payments due to the contractor by the Employer

shall not be withheld, unless they are the subject

matter of the arbitration proceedings."

3.

The material on record discloses that since

disputes arose between the parties in relation to the

aforesaid Contract Agreement dated 12.03.2013 containing

the aforesaid Arbitration agreement at Sl.No.4 in the

Special Conditions of Contract attached to the Contract

Agreement, on 11.05.2021, the petitioner invoked the

aforesaid arbitration clause and issued a notice to the

respondent putting forth various claims and contentions

and nominating and appointing a sole arbitrator and calling

upon the respondent to give its concurrence / consent to

refer the dispute to arbitration. However, despite having

received the said notice, the respondent has neither sent

any reply nor complied with the requests and demands

made in the aforesaid arbitration notice.

5

4.

Subsequently, the parties have not only failed

to resolve their disputes but they have also not reached any

consensus / agreement for appointment of an arbitrator and

as such, petitioner is before this Court by way of the

present petition.

5.

In

view

of

the

aforesaid

facts

and

circumstances, though several contentions have been

urged by both sides in support of their respective claims,

without expressing any opinion on the merits / demerits of

the rival contentions, I deem it just and appropriate to allow

this petition by referring the dispute between the parties to

arbitration with the consent of both sides by appointing

Hon’ble Justice V. Jagannathan, Former Judge, High

Court of Karnataka, to act as the sole Arbitrator to resolve

the dispute between the parties under the provisions of the

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, as per the Rules

governing the Arbitration and Conciliation Centre (Domestic

& Internat