Judgment Intelligence
Petition AllowedHPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited v. Chemie Tech DMCC
Arbitration Petition No. 50 of 2026
- Court
- Supreme Court of India
- Date of Decision
- 5 October 2026
- Bench
- Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana
- Relevant Acts & Sections
- Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - Section 11(6)
Final Outcome
Arbitration petition allowed: Justice Indira Banerjee appointed sole arbitrator for the disputes under the three tender contracts, seated at New Delhi, with each contract to be dealt with as an independent arbitral reference (paras 6-9).
Key holdings
- Justice Indira Banerjee, former Supreme Court judge, appointed sole arbitrator (para 6).
- Seat and venue at New Delhi, as the arbitration agreement provides (para 6).
- One arbitrator because the parties are common; each contract an independent reference (para 8).
- The arbitrator to fix her fees with the parties; costs subject to the award (para 7).
Judgment digest by NyayVidhan: a summary of the court's judgment, not its text. The judgment itself is the authoritative version.
Brief Facts
HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited, a joint venture of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and the Government of Rajasthan building a refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Barmer, awarded three tender contracts in 2021 (Package 7A, Package 6A and EPCC-11) to Chemie Tech DMCC, a Dubai company (paras 1-2). Each contract's Special Conditions of Contract provide for a sole arbitrator seated at New Delhi (para 2). Alleging unfurnished performance bank guarantees and missed milestones, the petitioner terminated all three contracts on 18.02.2023 (para 3). Its arbitration notice of 30.01.2026 proposed three former High Court judges and a consolidated adjudication; Chemie Tech declined, so it moved under Section 11(6) (para 4).
Court's Findings
Having heard the parties, the Court allowed the petition and, considering the facts and the arbitration provisions in the three contracts' Special Conditions, appointed Justice Indira Banerjee, former Judge of the Supreme Court, as sole arbitrator, with the seat and venue at New Delhi as agreed (paras 5-6). She may fix her fees in consultation with the parties, and the costs of the arbitration will follow the arbitration agreements, subject to the final award on costs (para 7). The Court clarified that the disputes under the three contracts were sent to the same arbitrator only because the parties were common: as they arise from independent agreements, the arbitrator must deal with each contract separately, as an independent arbitral reference (para 8). The petitioner had proposed a consolidated adjudication (para 4); the order instead keeps the three references separate before one arbitrator (para 8).
Legal Principle
Disputes under several contracts between the same parties may be referred to one sole arbitrator under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, but where the contracts are independent agreements, each must be decided as a separate arbitral reference (paras 6, 8).
