Disposed¶20

M/S Synergy Rail Engineering Pvt. Ltd. v. Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd.

Delhi HC9 Sept 2025ARB.P./993/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Section 11(6) Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996; appointment of sole arbitrator; Delhi HC; Synergy Rail Engineering v Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd; Kota-Bina doubling project; FBW 60 kg 52 kg rails RDSO manuals; Clause 20.2 and 20.3 GCC; Amicable Settlement Committee 08.10.2024; arbitration invoked 24.03.2025; Reena Singh Nath former ADJ appointed arbitrator; Fourth Schedule arbitrator fee; Section 12 disclosure.

What did the court decide?

Appointment of Ms. Reena Singh Nath, former Additional District Judge, as Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties, with fee per the Fourth Schedule of the 1996 Act and disclosure required under Section 12; the petition and the pending application were disposed of accordingly. ¶20

M/S Synergy Rail Engineering Pvt. Ltd. Vs Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. — Arbitration | Delhi HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether a Sole Arbitrator should be appointed under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 to adjudicate the disputes between the parties arising from the contract awarded on 22.10.2020, after the Petitioner invoked arbitration and the Respondent failed to consent.

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Court's answer

With the consent of the parties, Ms. Reena Singh Nath, former Additional District Judge, is appointed as Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties.

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Ratio / Principle

The fee of the Arbitrator shall be fixed as per the Fourth Schedule of the 1996 Act, as agreed by the parties.

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Key takeaways

The learned Arbitrator shall give disclosure under Section 12 of the 1996 Act before entering upon the reference.ratio¶18
It is made clear that the Court has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case; all rights and contentions of the respective parties are left open.obiter¶19

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Delhi High Court (Jyoti Singh, J.) disposed of ARB.P. 993/2025, a Section 11(6) petition filed by M/s Synergy Rail Engineering Pvt. Ltd. against Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. seeking appointment of a Sole Arbitrator. Disputes arose from a contract awarded by RVNL on 22.10.2020 for FBW of 60 kg / 52 kg rails per RDSO Manuals (Salpura-Ruthiyai, Guna-PIGT and Ashok Nagar-Bina Sections, Kota-Bina doubling Project). The Petitioner invoked the Pre-arbitration Dispute Resolution mechanism (Clause 20.2, Section 6 GCC); finding the Amicable Settlement Committee's recommendations of 08.10.2024 inadequate, it invoked Clause 20.3 GCC and issued an arbitration invocation notice on 24.03.2025, to which the Respondent failed to consent. Counsel for RVNL raised no objection to a Court-appointed arbitrator, the existence of the arbitration agreement being undisputed, though claims were disputed on merits. With the consent of parties, the Court appointed Ms. Reena Singh Nath, former Additional District Judge, as Sole Arbitrator, fee to be fixed per the Fourth Schedule of the 1996 Act, disclosure under Section 12 required before entering upon the reference; the Court expressly expressed no opinion on merits and left all rights and contentions open. Petition and pending application disposed of accordingly.

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$~70

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

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- ARB.P. 993/2025 & I.A. 21361/2025

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M/S SYNERGY RAIL ENGINEERING PVT. LTD. .....Petitioner

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Through: Ms. Devna Soni, Ms. Simran Bajaj and Ms. Shrestha Rao, Advocates.

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versus

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RAIL VIKAS NIGAM LTD. .....Respondent Through: Mr. Udit Seth and Mr. Divyanshu, Advocates.

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CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE JYOTI SINGH

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O R D E R % 09.09.2025

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This petition is filed on behalf of the Petitioner under Section 11(6) of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘1996 Act’) seeking appointment of a Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties.

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Disputes have arisen between the parties herein in respect of a Contract awarded by the Respondent on 22.10.2020 for the work of ‘FBW of 60 kg, 52 kg rails as per RDSO Manuals for Salpura-Ruthiyai, Guna-PIGT and Ashok Nagar-Bina Section in connection with Kota-Bina doubling Project’ . Petitioner invoked Pre-arbitration Dispute Resolution mechanism as per Clause 20.2 of Section 6 of GCC. Competent Authority constituted the Amicable Settlement Committee, however, the amounts recommended by the Committee on 08.10.2024, according to the Petitioner, were inadequate and hence Petitioner invoked Clause 20.3 of GCC and issued

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ARB.P. 993/2025

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Page 1 of 2

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This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 20/09/2025 at 12:24:39

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notice invoking arbitration on 24.03.2025. Respondent, however, failed to consent to the Arbitrator and this petition was filed.

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Learned counsel for the Respondent, on instructions, submits that Respondent has no objection to the appointment of the Sole Arbitrator by this Court since existence of the arbitration agreement is not in dispute albeit learned counsel disputes claims of the Petitioner on merits.

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Accordingly, with the consent of the parties, Ms. Reena Singh Nath, former Additional District Judge (Mobile No. 9910384697) is appointed as Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties. Fee of the Arbitrator shall be fixed as per Fourth Schedule of 1996 Act, as agreed by the parties.

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Learned Arbitrator shall give disclosure under Section 12 of the 1996 Act before entering upon reference.

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It is made clear that this Court has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case and all rights and contentions of the respective parties are left open.

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