Delhi High Court - Orders
M/S Mep Hyderabad Bangalore Tollroad ... vs M/S National Highways Authority Of ... on 16 December, 2020
Author: Rekha Palli
Bench: Rekha Palli
via video-conferencing
$~13
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ O.M.P.(I) (COMM.) 175/2019 & I.A. 12096/2020
M/S MEP HYDERABAD BANGALORE TOLLROAD PVT. LTD.
..... Petitioner
Through: Mr.Atul Nanda, Senior Advocates
with Mr. Rajiv Shankar Dvivedi, Mr.
Sushant Kumar Sarkar and Mr.
Rishabh Jain, Advocates.
versus
M/S NATIONAL HIGHWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA
..... Respondent
Through: Ms.Pinky Anand, Senior Advocate
with Mr. Kailash Pandey, Mr. Ranjeet
Singh and Ms. Saudamini Sharma,
Advocates.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE REKHA PALLI
ORDER
% 16.12.2020 I.A. 12096/2020
1. This is an application filed by the respondent seeking early hearing of the petition under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 as preferred by the petitioner, whereunder an additional prayer seeking vacation of the interim order dated 29.05.2019 has also been made.
2. On 29.05.2019, when the present petition was taken up for preliminary hearing, this Court had restrained the respondent from Signature Not Verified DigitallySigned By:MANJU BHATT Signing Date:17.12.2020 16:06:06 invoking the bank guarantee subject to the petitioner depositing a sum of Rs.17 crores with the respondent, which amount has been admittedly deposited. It transpires from the record that after filing of the present petition, the parties have already invoked arbitration and consequently, a three-member arbitral tribunal has already entered upon reference.
3. In these circumstances, it has been put to the learned senior counsel for the parties as to whether, instead of this Court continuing to deal with the petition under Section 9 which was filed when the parties were yet to invoke arbitration, they would be agreeable for the interim order dated 29.05.2019 to continue for a further period of six weeks, with liberty to the parties to seek modification of the said order before the learned Arbitral Tribunal. Both sides are agreeable to the said course of action.
4. The petition, along with all pending applications, is accordingly disposed of by directing that subject to the petitioner keeping the bank guarantee alive, the interim order dated 29.05.2019 will continue for a further period of six weeks, whereafter it will be subject to the orders passed by the learned Arbitral Tribunal where the disputes between the parties are already pending adjudication.
REKHA PALLI, J DECEMBER 16, 2020/vp Signature Not Verified DigitallySigned By:MANJU BHATT Signing Date:17.12.2020 16:06:06