Supreme Court Paves Way for Arbitration in Hindustan Prefab vs NLU Odisha Dispute

The Supreme Court has cleared the path for arbitration between Hindustan Prefab Limited (HPL) and National Law University, Odisha (NLUO) by overruling an Orissa High Court order. The lower court had denied HPL's request to appoint an arbitrator in its contractual dispute with NLUO. The Bench, comprising Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, emphasized that courts should refer cases to arbitration when an arbitration agreement is undisputed, without delving into claim merits.

Representing HPL were Advocates Gaurav Gupta, Rajesh Kumar, Vinit Tyagi, and Gaurav Goel, while Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra and his team, including Advocates Pankaj Singhal and Akshat Kumar, defended NLUO. HPL, a government entity, experienced disputes over a works contract awarded to them by NLUO, which led to an arbitration process ending against HPL. Challenging the award and seeking reimbursement from NLUO under a contentious clause, HPL faced resistance as NLUO argued the arbitration award's finality was pending.

The Supreme Court disagreed with the Orissa High Court's assessment that the non-finality of the arbitration award negates any cause for arbitration. It reiterated that arbitration appointing stages only verify agreement existence. Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya, former Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, was appointed as the arbitrator with directives to declare under the Sixth Schedule and adhere to the Fourth Schedule fee structure.