M/S Arcop Associates Pvt. Ltd. Vs Government of NCT of Delhi — Arbitration | Delhi HC (2026)

M/S Arcop Associates Pvt. Ltd. Vs Government of NCT of Delhi — Arbitration | Delhi HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Interim protection pending arbitration: the Section 9 petition is to be treated by the Arbitrator as a Section 17 application (confined to interim measures qua the debarment order dated 30.12.2025) and disposed of within four weeks; till then the debarment order remains in abeyance and, if published on the PWD/GNCTD website, is to be removed by the respondent.

Issue for consideration

Whether ad-interim injunction/interim measures should be granted against the respondent's unilateral Blacklisting/Debarment Order dated 30.12.2025, restraining coercive steps and staying operation of the order (and, as originally prayed, the recovery of Rs.50,00,000/-) pending adjudication of the arbitral dispute.

Court's answer

With the consent of the parties, the petition under Section 9 of the Act shall be treated by the learned Arbitrator as an application under Section 17 of the Act, confined to interim measures qua the debarment order dated 30.12.2025, and disposed of within four weeks.

Ratio / Principle

Till the final order under Section 17 of the Act is passed by the learned Arbitrator, the operation of the debarment order dated 30.12.2025 shall remain in abeyance.

Key takeaways

If the debarment order dated 30.12.2025 has been published on the website of PWD/GNCTD, the respondent shall remove it until the application under Section 17 of the Act is disposed of by the learned Arbitrator.ratio¶27
Clarification that nothing stated in the order shall be construed as an expression on the merits of the case.obiter¶29

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Delhi High Court (Vikas Mahajan, J.), order dated 07.04.2026: With the consent of both parties, the petitioner M/s Arcop Associates Pvt Ltd's petition under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 — seeking interim measures against GNCTD's unilateral Blacklisting/Debarment Order dated 30.12.2025 (which also imposed a recovery of Rs.50,00,000/- via Clause 4.1 of the Agreement, though the petitioner confined its prayer to the debarment order alone) — was directed to be treated by the already-seized Arbitrator (reference entered upon, claims and counter-claims filed) as an application under Section 17 of the Act, to be disposed of within four weeks. Interim protection: the debarment order remains in abeyance till the Section 17 decision, and if published on the PWD/GNCTD website it is to be removed by the respondent. The petition, along with pending applications, was disposed of in these terms, with an express clarification that nothing therein is an expression on the merits.

$~54

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

- O.M.P.(I) (COMM.) 13/2026 and I.A. 593/2026 and I.A. 8886/2026

M/S ARCOP ASSOCIATES PVT LTD .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Ratan K Singh, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Kunwar Chandresh, Ms. Poonam Prasad, Mr. Divyansh Singh, Mr. Anand Murthi Rao and Mr. George Lincoln, Advocates.

versus

GOVERNMENT OF NCT OF DELHI .....Respondent Through: Mr. Sashi Pratap Singh, Ms. Shagun Sabharwal, Ms. Anamika Tyagi and Ms. Laqshyaa Saluja, Advocates.

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIKAS MAHAJAN

O R D E R % 07.04.2026

O.M.P.(I) (COMM.) 13/2026

The present petition has been filed by the petitioner under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as ‘Act’) seeking following reliefs:

“a. Grant ad-interim injunction against the Respondent from taking any further coercive steps against the Petitioner pursuant to unilateral Blacklisting/Debarment Order dated 30.12.2025 (IMPUGNED ORDER) issued against the Petitioner; AND/OR

b. Grant ad-interim injunction on the said Debarment Order dated 30.12.2025 during the pendency of the instant Petition; AND/OR

c. Grant ad-interim injunction on the Order imposing recovery

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 09/04/2026 at 13:00:47

of Rs.50,00,000/- imposed against the Petitioner vide the Blacklisting/Debarment Order dated 30.12.2025 through invocation of Clause 4.1 of the Agreement”

Mr. Ratan K. Singh, learned Sr. Counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner submits that in the present petition he is confining his prayer only to the interim measures qua the debarment order dated 30.12.2025 and not the penalty.

Mr. Shashi Pratap Singh, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent/GNCTD, on instructions, from the Execution Engineer Mr. Pawan Kumar, who is present in the Court, submits that an Arbitrator has already been appointed to adjudicate the disputes between the parties arising out of the Consultancy Agreement and the order of debarment dated 30.12.2025 is also an offshoot of the said agreement.

On instructions, he further submits that the respondent has no objection in case the present petition is treated as an application under Section 17 of the Act by the learned Arbitrator who has already entered upon the reference and the claims and counter-claims of the parties already stand filed.

Mr. Ratan Singh, on instructions, submits that the petitioner also has no objection to such a course being adopted.

In view of the above, with the consent of the parties, the following directions are passed:

i. the present petition filed by the petitioner under Section 9 of the Act shall be treated by the learned Arbitrator as an application under Section 17 of the Act confined to the interim measures qua the

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 09/04/2026 at 13:00:47

debarment order dated 30.12.2025, and the same will be disposed of within a period of four weeks.

ii. till the time, final order under Section 17 of the Act is passed by the learned Arbitrator, the operation of the debarment order dated 30.12.2025 shall remain in abeyance.

iii. the debarment order dated 30.12.2025, if at all, has been published on the website of PWD/GNCTD, the same shall be removed by the respondent till the application under Section 17 of the Act is disposed by the learned Arbitrator.

The present petition, along with pending applications, is disposed of in the above terms.

It is clarified that nothing stated hereinabove shall be construed as an expression on the merits of the case.

VIKAS MAHAJAN, J

APRIL 7, 2026/ jg

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 09/04/2026 at 13:00:47