Vishwa Samudra Engineering Private ... vs Indian Craft Village Trust (Icvt) And ...
2026 Latest Caselaw 2809 Cal/2

Calcutta High Court

Vishwa Samudra Engineering Private ... vs Indian Craft Village Trust (Icvt) And ... on 8 April, 2026

     ORDER                                                             OCD - 5
                          IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
                              COMMERCIAL DIVISION
                                  ORIGINAL SIDE

                               AP-COM/246/2026
                 VISHWA SAMUDRA ENGINEERING PRIVATE LIMITED
                                      VS
                   INDIAN CRAFT VILLAGE TRUST (ICVT) AND ORS.

BEFORE
HON'BLE JUSTICE GAURANG KANTH
Date: April 08, 2026.
                                                                           Appearance:-
                                                               Mr. Kishore Datta, Ld. AG.
                                                                  Ms. Sumita Shaw, Adv.
                                                                Mr. Nilavo Banerjee, Adv.
                                                             Mr. Soumen Chatterjee, Adv.
                                                                          ...for petitioner.
                                                               Mr. Anirban Ray, Sr. Adv.
                                                              Ms. Sananda Ganguli, Adv.
                                                                        Mr. S. Roy, Adv.
                                                                 Mr. Subham Saha, Adv.
                                                                      ...for respondents.

The Court:- The petitioner has preferred the present petitioner under

Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, inter alia,

(i) seeking an order of injunction restraining the respondent Nos.1 and

2 from invoking, encashing or in any manner acting upon the

Mobilization Advance Bank Guarantee bearing

No.0416825BG0B00791 dated 05.12.2015 for Rs.7,50,76,391/-;

(ii) seeking an order restraining the respondent No.1 from giving effect

to the Termination Notice dated 02.04.2026 (Memo No.

ICVT/Kolkata/2026/0024) and from taking any consequential steps

pursuant thereto;

(iii) seeking direction upon the respondents to remit the sum of

Rs.3,81,74,436/- allegedly encashed under Performance Bank

Guarantee No.0416825BG0B00790 dated 05.12.2025 and deposit

the same either with the petitioner or with the Registry of this Court

in an interest bearing fixed deposit during the pendency of the

arbitration proceedings.

Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents, at the outset,

submits that the Performance Bank Guarantee has already been invoked and

encashed. He further states that he will encash Mobilization Bank Guarantee

only in terms of the contract.

In view of the aforesaid statement, learned senior counsel for the

petitioner submits that the petitioner has already invoked the arbitration

clause in terms of the agreement.

Learned counsel for the respondents has no objection to the dispute being

referred to arbitration.

In view of the consensus arrived at between the parties, this Court with

their consent, appoint Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, Retired Judge of the

Supreme Court, as a sole arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the

parties. All questions including those related to arbitrability, maintainability,

claims, limitations and merits of the disputes are left open to the learned

arbitrator to be decided in the arbitration proceedings. The appointment of the

learned arbitrator is strictly in consonance with Section 12 of the Arbitration

and Conciliation Act, 1996.

In view of the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, the present application

under Section 9 is directed to be placed before the learned arbitrator who shall

treat the same as an application under Section 17 of the Arbitration and

Conciliation Act, 1996 and consider the same in accordance with law.

With the aforesaid direction, the present petition is disposed of. Nothing

in terms of the order shall influence the learned arbitrator to decide the

disputes between the parties.

(GAURANG KANTH, J.)

R. D. Barua