Court Cannot Interfere In Arbitration Proceedings At Final Stage, When Sufficient Opportunity Has Been Given To Claimant To Inspect Documents: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court Bench of Justice Manoj Jain has upheld the order passed by the Arbitrator whereby an application seeking production of certain documents has been dismissed. The court held that sufficient opportunity had been given to the claimant, but he didn't avail that opportunity. Thus, the court cannot interfere with the order of the arbitrator at the final stage. Additionally, it said that the case is at the stage of final arguments and, therefore, the Court did not find any requirement of interfering with the abovesaid order, particularly, when the scope of interference in such type of arbitral proceedings is very limited. Brief Facts of the case: The present dispute arose with respect to an order passed by the Arbitrator whereby an application filed by the petitioner seeking production of certain documents has been dismissed. The Arbitrator observed that similar opportunity had been granted to the claimant earlier on 07.09.2024 and the claimant did not avail the abovesaid opportunity and did not even inspect the record and, therefore, it did not accede to the abovesaid request. Aggrieved by the order of passed by the Arbitrator the claimant filed a petition before the High Court challenging the order. Observation of the Court: The court observed that the case is at the stage of final arguments and, therefore, this Court does not find any requirement of interfering with the abovesaid order, particularly, when the scope of interference in such type of arbitral proceedings is very limited. Also, the court noted that sufficient opportunity has been given to the claimant, but he didn't avail that opportunity. Thus, the court cannot interfere with the order of the arbitrator now at the final stage. Further, the court relied on the judgment in Kelvin Air Conditioning & Ventilation System (P) Ltd. v. Triumph Reality (P) Ltd., (2024) wherein the court was considering the case of a petitioner who was defending a claim, and was aggrieved by the order of Arbitrator whereby the delay in filing the statement of defense was not condoned. Further, in this case the court held that efficiency of the arbitral process ought not to be allowed to diminish and hence interdicting the arbitral process should be completely avoided. Judicial inference in such type of matters has to be minimal and recourse to Article 227 of the Constitution of India has to be under exceptional circumstances when it is shown that such order is absolutely perverse. Finally, the court dismissed the petition filed by the petitioner. Case Title: SUNEHRI BAGH BUILDERS PVT LTD versus DELHI TOURISM AND TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LTDCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 367 Case Number: CM(M) 521/2025& CM APPL. 16300-16301/2025 Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr. Dinkar Singh with Mr. Rohit Singh, Advocates. Counsel for the Respondent: Mr. Vipul Garg and Mr. Gupreet Singh, Advocates. Date of Judgment: 20.03.2025 Click Here To Read/Download The Order

Court Cannot Interfere In Arbitration Proceedings At Final Stage, When Sufficient Opportunity Has Been Given To Claimant To Inspect Documents: Delhi HC

Soumya Chakrabarti

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