Damodar Valley Corporation vs Bla Projects Private Limited
2025 Latest Caselaw 812 Cal/2

Calcutta High Court

Damodar Valley Corporation vs Bla Projects Private Limited on 4 August, 2025

Author: Arijit Banerjee

Bench: Arijit Banerjee

OC-3
                             ORDER SHEET

                             AO-COM/1/2025
                                  WITH
                            AP-COM/231/2024
                     IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
                     COMMERCIAL APPELLATE DIVISION
                              ORIGINAL SIDE

                     DAMODAR VALLEY CORPORATION
                                 VS
                     BLA PROJECTS PRIVATE LIMITED

  BEFORE:
  The Hon'ble JUSTICE ARIJIT BANERJEE
                 AND
  The Hon'ble JUSTICE OM NARAYAN RAI
  Date : 4th August, 2025.

                                                                      Appearance:
                                               Mr. Jayanta Kumar Mitra, Sr.Adv.
                                                      Mr. Kanishk Kejriwal, Adv.
                                                          Mr. Amit Meharia, Adv.
                                                    Ms. Paromita Banerjee, Adv.
                                                            Mr. Sayan Dey, Adv.
                                                               ..for the appellant

                                                Mr. Suman Kumar Dutt, Sr. Adv.
                                                        Mr. Sakabda Roy, Adv.
                                                       Mr. Debdeep Sinha, Adv.
                                                           ...for the respondent

                          Dictated by Arijit Banerjee, J.

The Court: This appeal under Section 37 of the Arbitration and

Conciliation Act, 1996, is directed against a judgment and order dated

August 13, 2024, whereby a Learned Judge of this Court dismissed AP-

COM/231/2024 being an application under Section 34 of the 1996 Act for

setting aside an arbitral award made by a sole arbitrator in favour of the

respondent herein.

Appearing in support of this appeal, Mr. Mitra, learned Senior

Counsel, indicated the following points on which he would develop his

argument:

i) The construction of the termination clauses by the arbitrator

was perverse. No reasonable person could interpret the termination

clause in the manner that the arbitrator has done;

ii) Since the termination clauses contemplated a notice period,

even if the claimant was entitled to damages, that should have been

limited to the notice period;

iii) In any event, the onus was on the claimant to prove that it

actually suffered loss and damage by reason of termination of the

contract. As a related point it was also the claimant's duty to mitigate

any loss and damage that it was faced with.

List the matter on August 22, 2025.

(ARIJIT BANERJEE, J.)

(OM NARAYAN RAI, J.)

kc.