{"id":14461,"date":"2024-04-17T11:08:15","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T11:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/mappingADR\/?p=14461"},"modified":"2024-04-17T11:08:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T11:08:15","slug":"national-highways-authority-of-india-v-sayedabad-tea-company-ltd-and-ors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/mappingADR\/national-highways-authority-of-india-v-sayedabad-tea-company-ltd-and-ors\/","title":{"rendered":"National Highways Authority of India v. Sayedabad Tea Company Ltd. and Ors."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
This case is a part of our Annual Arbitration Review 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judgment Name- <\/strong>National Highways Authority of India <\/em><\/a>v.<\/a> Sayedabad Tea Company Ltd. and Ors<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Citation: <\/strong>(2019) SCC OnLine SC 1102<\/p>\n\n\n\n Court: <\/strong>Supreme Court of India<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coram:<\/strong> N.V. Ramana, Mohan M. Shantanagoudar, Ajay Rastogi, JJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Date:<\/strong> 27th August 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keywords: <\/strong>Appointment of Arbitrators, National Highways Act, Section 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overview and Ratio<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Supreme Court held that Highways Act, being a special law, has an overriding effect on the general law of arbitration and dismissed Section 11<\/a> application for appointment of the arbitrator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Facts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sayedabad Tea Estate was acquired by the Appellant, National Highways Authority of India for the purpose of construction of highways. The Appellant awarded the Respondent with compensation under the National Highways Act, 1956<\/a> (\u201cNH Act<\/a>\u201d). Dissatisfied by the compensation determined by the competent authority under Sub-Section(1) of Section 3G<\/a> of the NH Act, the Respondent filed an application for appointment of an arbitrator as per Section 3G(5), to the Central Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Central Government did not respond within the requisite period of 30 days from receipt of the request, following which the respondent filed an application to the Chief Justice\/ his designate for the appointment of an arbitrator invoking Section 11(1)<\/a> of the <\/a>Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996<\/a> (\u201c1996 Act\u201d). Following this, the Central Government appointed an arbitrator a few months after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile the Calcutta High Court (“HC”) also appointed the sole arbitrator under Section 11 of the 1996 Act. The Respondent sent the letter of his recusal to the HC before the initiation of the proceedings. This stopped the arbitrator appointed by the central government to proceed, once the intervention by the Calcutta HC was made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Calcutta HC passed an order in favor of the Respondent taking note of the fact that the arbitrator had been appointed by the Central Government under Section 3G(5) of the NH Act, after the Respondent had moved an application to the Chief Justice of India, invoking his power under Section 11(6). The Court held that the right of appointment of the arbitrator by the Central Government stands forfeited as it failed to appoint the arbitrator until the filing of the application under Section 11(6) of the 1996 Act, before the Calcutta HC and therefore, the appointment of arbitrator during the pendency of proceedings, cannot be said to be a valid appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Issue<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Does the provision of appointment of arbitrators in the NH Act override the one present in the 1996 Act?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rules<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Section 11 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.<\/p>\n\n\n\n National Highways Act, 1956, Section 3G and H.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Supreme Court observed that the usage of the term “subject to” in Section 3G (5) of the NH Act clearly indicates that the provisions of the NH Act will have an overriding effect vis-\u00e0-vis the 1996 Act in relation to land compensation matters arising under the NH Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n