28 October 2021| CG Tollway Ltd. v. NHAI and another| Arb. P. 888 of 2021| Suresh Kumar Kait J | Delhi High Court | SCC OnLine Del 4838

The agreement provided that the dispute shall be finally referred to Society for Affordable Resolution of Disputes (SAROD), a Society registered under Societies Registration Act, 1860. Under the SAROD Rules, each party is to select one arbitrator who would jointly select the third. In various set of other legal proceedings, the parties were directed to take recourse to arbitration.

An application was moved for appointment of a sole arbitrator by the court. It was dismissed ruling that:

1. The SAROD Rules stipulate that the arbitrator appointed under the rules shall be a person on the panel of SAROD and the manner for appointment of Presiding Arbitrator is also prescribed.
2. There are total 89 arbitrators on the panel of SAROD, which includes bureaucrats, Chief Engineers, Secretaries to Government of India hailing from different educational background and also former Judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court, and their trustworthiness and integrity cannot in any way be doubted.
3. The court directed the parties to nominate one arbitrator each from the panel of SAROD and the two so appointed shall appoint the third Arbitrator in terms of the agreement. The court also referred to CORE 2019 SCC OnLine SC 1635 and said that though it has been referred to a larger bench, it remains the law.

Read the judgment here.