Delhi State Industrial and Development Corporation Ltd. (Dsiidc) Vs M/S Gaurav Enterprises — Delhi HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Delhi State Industrial and Development Corporation Ltd. (Dsiidc) Vs M/S Gaurav Enterprises — Delhi HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Parties referred to arbitration under the aegis of DIAC; Mr. Brij Bhushan Gupta, Senior Advocate appointed Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes de novo under the Rules framed by the DIAC (fee regulated under DIAC rules; declaration under Section 12 of the Act); impugned order dated 05.01.2026 (District Judge, Commercial Court-02, Shahdara District, in OMP (COMM) 6/24) and award dated 04.03.2024 (Sh. Ramesh Tiwari, Sole Arbitrator) set aside; appeal and pending application disposed of.

Issue for consideration

Whether the appointment of the Arbitrator was unilateral, and was of a person who was earlier employed in the appellant organisation. +1 more

Court's answer

The Court appointed Mr. Brij Bhushan Gupta, Senior Advocate as the Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties de novo under the Rules framed by the DIAC.

Ratio / Principle

The fee of the Arbitrator shall be regulated under the rules of the DIAC, and he shall give declaration under Section 12 of the Act.

Key takeaways

The Court recorded its prima facie view that the appointment of the Arbitrator in the present case was not unilateral; this tentative observation was not finally adjudicated, as the dispute was instead routed to fresh arbitration.obiter¶18
The impugned order dated 05.01.2026 passed by the District Judge, Commercial Court-02, Shahdara District, Karkardooma Courts, Delhi in OMP (COMM) 6/24 is set aside.ratio¶26
The award dated 04.03.2024 passed by Sh. Ramesh Tiwari I.A.S. (Retd.), Sole Arbitrator is set aside.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Arbitration — FAO (COMM) 80/2026, High Court of Delhi (V. Kameswar Rao and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, JJ.), 05.05.2026 — DSIIDC v. M/s Gaurav Enterprises. On the appellant's stated agreement, the Court referred the parties to arbitration under the aegis of the Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) and appointed Mr. Brij Bhushan Gupta, Senior Advocate as Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties de novo under the Rules framed by the DIAC; his fee is to be regulated under the DIAC rules and he is to give declaration under Section 12 of the Act. The impugned order dated 05.01.2026 passed by the District Judge, Commercial Court-02, Shahdara District, Karkardooma Courts, Delhi in OMP (COMM) 6/24, as well as the award dated 04.03.2024 passed by Sh. Ramesh Tiwari, I.A.S. (Retd.), Sole Arbitrator, were set aside. Appeal and pending application disposed of. At the earlier hearing the Court had been prima facie of the view that the Arbitrator's appointment was not unilateral, while noting that the award had been set aside on the second ground that the Arbitrator was earlier working in the appellant organisation, treated as a false declaration with cost of Rs. 1 lakh imposed.

$~12

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

FAO (COMM) 80/2026 CM APPL. 17431/2026 DELHI STATE INDUSTRIAL AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LTD. (DSIIDC) .....Appellant Through: Ms. Maneesha Dhir, Ms. Varsha Banerjee, Ms. Ayushi Misra, Ms. Vidhi Kapoor and Mr. Raja Chaudhry, Advs.

versus

M/S GAURAV ENTERPRISES .....Respondent Through: Mr. Vijay Kinger, Mr. Vineet Kumar, Ms. Mini Panwar, Ms. Farha Shakeel and Ms. Roopa Nagpal, Advs.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V. KAMESWAR RAO HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MANMEET PRITAM SINGH ARORA

O R D E R

% 05.05.2026

On the last date of hearing, we had passed the following order:

“ CM APPL. 17432/2026 (For exemption)

1. Exemption is allowed, subject to all just exceptions.

2. The application stands disposed of.

FAO (COMM) 80/2026 & CM APPL. 17431/2026

3. Issue notice. Learned counsel for the respondent accepts notice.

4. Written submissions be filed by the learned counsel for the parties within six weeks.

5. The only issue which arises for consideration is whether the appointment of the Arbitrator was unilateral and was also of a person, who was earlier employed in the appellant organisation.

6. Though prima facie, we are of the view that the appointment in the present case is not unilateral, but the second ground on which the award has been set aside is because the Arbitrator was earlier working in the appellant organisation, which aspect was treated as a false declaration by the learned Arbitrator whereby imposing the cost of Rs. 1 lakh. We have put it to the counsel for

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 15/05/2026 at 12:23:33

the appellant whether the appellant shall be aggregable for this Court referring the parties to arbitration under the agies of Delhi International Arbitration Centre [‘DIAC’], the counsel seeks some time to seek instructions.

7. Renotify on 05.05.2026.”

The learned counsel for the appellant as per her instructions, states that the appellant is agreeable for this Court to refer the parties to arbitration under the aegis of Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC).

If that be so, we appoint Mr. Brij Bhushan Gupta, Senior Advocate as the learned Arbitrator who shall adjudicate the disputes between the parties de novo under the Rules framed by the DIAC.

The fee of the learned Arbitrator shall be regulated under the rules of the DIAC. He shall give declaration under Section 12 of the Act.

In view of the above, the impugned order dated 05.01.2026 passed by the learned District Judge, Commercial Court-02, Shahdara District, Karkardooma Courts, Delhi in OMP (COMM) 6/24 as well as the award dated 04.03.2024 passed by Sh. Ramesh Tiwari I.A.S. (Retd.), Sole Arbitrator are set aside.

Let a copy of this order be sent to the learned Arbitrator and the Coordinator, DIAC.

The appeal is disposed of. Pending application is disposed of.

V. KAMESWAR RAO, J

MANMEET PRITAM SINGH ARORA, J

MAY 5, 2026/ msh

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 15/05/2026 at 12:23:33