Authority: High Court of Orissa at Cuttack

Order Date: 12 November 2026

Case Overview

  • Parties: Core Minerals (petitioner) represented by Mr. R. Muralidharan; opposite party Himanghini Singh.
  • Underlying agreements dated 15 May 2002 for raising and sale of iron ore, containing arbitration clause referring disputes to two arbitrators appointed by each party, seat Bhubaneswar.
  • Dispute arose when opposite party's father demanded higher amount; letter invoking arbitration sent on 16 August 2009; subsequent proceedings in District Court (Arbitration Petition No.180 of 2009), High Court (ARBA No.93 of 2009), and Special Leave Petition No.24007 of 2010 before Supreme Court.
  • Supreme Court appointed third arbitrator as Chairman; petitioner filed statement of claim; opposite party filed belated counter‑claim; writ petition W.P.(C) No.20900 of 2012 stayed tribunal proceedings.
  • During pendency, lease of opposite party expired, the presiding arbitrator and the arbitrator appointed by petitioner died; also opposite party’s father died, not communicated to petitioner.
  • Petitioner withdrew writ petition on 30 October 2023 and issued notices on 5 Oct 2023, 28 Nov 2023, and 20 Dec 2023 seeking appointment of arbitrators; opposite party did not respond.

Legal Submissions

  • Opposite party argued Section 29A time‑bar; petitioner contended that death of arbitrators terminates tribunal under Section 15, making Section 29A irrelevant.
  • Court relied on precedents: Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. v. Sterlite Technologies Ltd., Khorshed E. Nagarwalla v. Daryus Soley Panthakey, Shailesh Dhairyawan v. Mohan Balkrishna Lulla, and Yashwith Construction P. Ltd. v. Simplex Concrete Piles India Ltd., interpreting Section 15(2) as mandating appointment of substitute arbitrator according to the “rules” in the arbitration agreement.

Final Outcome

  • Court appointed Mr. Justice Ananga Kumar Patnaik, former Supreme Court Judge, as Presiding Arbitrator, together with arbitrators nominated by the parties.
  • The Arbitral Tribunal shall resume proceedings from the point the previous tribunal became defunct, under the jurisdiction of the High Court of Orissa Arbitration Centre.
  • Remuneration of arbitrators shall be equally shared by the parties as agreed, and the tribunal shall observe the time limits of Section 29A.
  • The arbitration petition is disposed; a copy of the judgment to be communicated to the Presiding Arbitrator.

Topics: "Arbitration Appointment, Arbitration Law"