M/S Mehar Chand Contractor vs State Of Haryana And Others
2026 Latest Caselaw 3950 P&H

Citation : 2026 Latest Caselaw 3950 P&H
Judgement Date : 29 April, 2026

[Cites 5, Cited by 0]

Punjab-Haryana High Court

M/S Mehar Chand Contractor vs State Of Haryana And Others on 29 April, 2026

Author: Jasgurpreet Singh Puri

Bench: Jasgurpreet Singh Puri

                 ARB-120-2026 (O&M)        1


                               IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA
                                            AT CHANDIGARH
                 248
                                                         ARB-120-2026 (O&M)
                                                         Date of Decision:29.04.2026

                 M/S Mehar Chand Contractor

                                                                            ......Petitioner
                                               Versus

                 State of Haryana and others
                                                                        ......Respondents

                 CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASGURPREET SINGH PURI

                 Present:-     Mr. Lajpat Rai Sharma, Advocate for the petitioner.

                               Ms. Puneeta Sethi, Addl. A.G. Haryana.

                                   *****

                 JASGURPREET SINGH PURI J.(Oral)

1. The present is a petition filed under Section 11 (6) of the

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'),

seeking appointment of a sole arbitrator in the present case.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that a valid

agreement (Annexure P-2) was entered into between the parties, which

contains an arbitration clause i.e. Clause 25. He submitted that as per

Clause 25(b), it has been provided that where the claim amount is less than

Rs.10 crores, the matter shall be referred to a sole arbitrator to be appointed

by the Engineer-in-Chief from the panel of arbitrators approved by the

Government. He further submitted that the aforesaid Engineer-in-Chief

cannot appoint an Arbitrator as the same would amount to unilateral

appointment of the Arbitrator, which is contrary to law in view of Section

ARB-120-2026 (O&M) 2

12(5) of the Act as well as the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court

in Perkins Eastman Architects DPC and another vs. HSCC (India)

Limited (2020) 20 SCC 760. He submitted that since a dispute arose

between the parties, the petitioner served a notice dated 16.01.2026 upon

the respondents vide Annexure P-6 for invoking the arbitration clause but

no response was received from the respondents. Therefore, he submitted

that this Hon'ble Court may appoint an independent and impartial arbitrator

for adjudicating the dispute which has arisen between the parties.

3. On the other hand, learned State counsel submitted that there is

no dispute regarding the existence of the arbitration clause or the service of

notice invoking the arbitration clause upon the respondents. She further

submitted that considering the aforesaid factual position and on instructions

from Mr. Anand, Executive Engineer, Hisar Water Services Division, Hisar,

the respondents have no objection if an independent and impartial sole

arbitrator is appointed for adjudication of the dispute, as a valid arbitration

clause exists between the parties. She, however, submitted that the

respondents may be permitted to raise all the legally permissible pleas

before the learned Arbitrator at an appropriate stage.

4. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and considering

the fact that the existence of a valid arbitration clause as well as invocation

thereof is not disputed, this Court is of the view that an independent and

impartial sole arbitrator deserves to be appointed for adjudication of the

disputes between the parties. Accordingly, the present petition is allowed.

Hon'ble Mr. Justice Inderjit Singh (retired), resident of House No. 497,

IAS/IPS Society, New Chandigarh, Mobile No.8558809904, Email:

[email protected] is appointed as the Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the

disputes between the parties, subject to compliance of statutory provisions

including Section 12 of the Act.

5. Liberty is granted to the respondents to raise all the legally

permissible pleas as may be available to them in accordance with law

before the learned Arbitrator at an appropriate stage.

6. Parties are directed to appear before learned Arbitrator on date,

time and place to be fixed and communicated by learned Arbitrator at his

convenience.

7. Fee shall be paid to learned Arbitrator in accordance with the

Fourth Schedule of the Arbitration Act, as amended.

8. Learned Arbitrator is also requested to complete the

proceedings as per the time limit prescribed under Section 29-A of the

Act.

9. A request letter alongwith a copy of the order be sent to