JUDGEMENT

VINAY SARAF, J. - (1.)Present application is preferred by applicants under Sec. 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (in short, 'Act 1996') for appointment of Arbitrator. The relief prayed for are as under:-
(1) Appointment of Shri Vinod Kumar Bhardwaj (Senior Advocate) as the arbitrator be set aside/annulled and the proceedings undertaken so far be declared to be void and non-est.

(2) Appoint an impartial, independent, and neutral arbitrator to preside over the arbitral proceedings and resolve the disputes between the parties herein;

(3) Any other relief, which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and appropriate in the facts and circumstances of the case, may also be ordered;

(4) Costs.

(2.)Brief facts of the case are that the applicants entered into an agreement with non-applicant on 12/9/2019 for the purpose of construction of complex. Clause 15 of the contract reads as under:-
[xxx xxx xxx]

(3.)As per the applicants, after the execution of the agreement between the parties for the purpose of construction and development of the property belongs to non-applicant, the applicants completed the construction of building/structure and thereafter due to some dispute between the parties in February, 2024 the applicants received communication/notice dtd. 16/2/2024 issued by non-applicant and addressed to Shri Vinod Kumar Bhardwaj, Senior Advocate (sole Arbitrator) wherein it was stated that since dispute has arisen in context of agreement dtd. 12/9/2019, the matter is referred for the purpose of adjudication by sole Arbitrator nominated by the parties in the agreement itself. The applicants after receipt of the information regarding referring of the dispute to the sole named Arbitrator made a request to the non-applicant to discuss, negotiate and settle the alleged disputes amicably without the intervention of an Arbitrator or courts of law but the same was not accepted by the non-applicant and consequently applicants issued notice/communication dtd. 8/4/2024 once again requested to the non-applicant to resolve the dispute without intervention of third party and also objected regarding the appointment of Shri Vinod Kumar Bhardwaj, Senior Advocate as sole Arbitrator and requested the non-applicant to propose the name of an impartial and neutral arbitrator. The request of the applicants was not accepted by non-applicant and sole arbitrator has started the proceedings and appointed Shri Arun Vajpayee, Advocate as Advocate Commissioner for the purpose of inspection of the site in question and directed the parties to be present on the site on 21/4/2024.


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