High Court Appoints Sole Arbitrator For Infrastructure Project Dispute: Meghalaya HC

Resolving a contractual impasse over a 1 MW solar power project, the High Court of Meghalaya has appointed a former Chief Justice to act as the sole arbitrator for resolving commercial disputes between a private construction firm and defense authorities.

Justice H. S. Thangkhiew presided over the application filed under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, referring the matter to arbitration based on the mutual consent of both parties.

Court Directions and Procedure

The High Court recorded the agreement of the parties to appoint an arbitrator to settle all disputes arising out of the contract.

The Court has following directions:

"i) Hon'ble Mr. Justice T. Vaiphei, Retd. Chief Justice is hereby appointed as the Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate upon the disputes and differences between the parties arising out of and in connection with the Agreement referred to above.

ii) A copy of this order will be communicated to the learned Sole Arbitrator by the petitioner within a period of 2(two) weeks, from the date of this order, along with contact details and other particulars of the parties to the Arbitral Tribunal alongwith a copy of this order.

iii) The learned Sole Arbitrator is requested to forward the Statutory Statement of Disclosure under Section 11(8) read with Section 12(1) of the A&C Act, 1996 to the advocates for the applicant, so as to enable them to file the same in the Registry of this Court, which shall retain the same in the file of this application, and a copy be furnished by the advocate for the applicant to the respondents.

iv) The parties shall appear before the learned Sole Arbitrator on such date and at such place as indicated, to obtain appropriate directions with regard to conduct of the arbitration, including fixing a schedule for pleadings, examination of witnesses, if any, schedule of hearing etc.

v) All arbitral costs and fees of the Arbitral Tribunal shall be borne by the parties equally in the first instance and shall be subject to any final Award that may be passed by the Tribunal in relation to costs."

Background

The petitioner, M/s Triveni Constructions, initiated legal proceedings seeking the appointment of an arbitrator for the adjudication of disputes arising out of contract agreement CA No. CESZ/JOR/06 of 2021-22, which pertained to the provision of a 1 MW Solar Power Plant along with allied infrastructure at Jorhat under GE Jorhat. The respondents in the matter included the Union of India through the Ministry of Defence, the Engineer-In-Chief of Military Engineer Service, the Chief Engineer (Shillong Zone), the Commandant Works Engineer (Likabali), and the Garrison Engineer (Jorhat).

During the proceedings under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, counsel appearing for both sides arrived at a consensus that Hon'ble Mr. Justice T. Vaiphei, Retired Chief Justice, be appointed as the sole arbitrator. Acceding to this joint submission, the High Court formally referred the disputes to the sole arbitrator and disposed of the application with specific procedural directions.

Case Details:
Case No.: Arb. P. No. 3 of 2026
Neutral Citation: 2026:MLHC:879
Case Title: M/s Triveni Constructions v. Union of India & Ors.
Appearances:
For the Petitioner(s): Mr. S. Chanda, Adv. with Ms. R. Dutta, Adv.
For the Respondent(s): Dr. N. Mozika, DSGI with Ms. M. Myrchiang, Adv.

Source: 2026 CaseBase(MEG) 318