Anant Sky Infrastructure Pvt Ltd vs Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. And Anr & Anr.

$~40
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of decision: 22.04.2026
+ O.M.P.(I) (COMM.) 169/2026, I.A. 10956/2026 (Stay), I.A.
10957/2026 (Ex.) & I.A. 10958/2026 (Ex. From filing lengthy
synopsis and list of dates)

ANANT SKY INFRASTRUCTURE PVT LTD .....Petitioner
Through: Mr. Sameer Vashisht, Ms.
Harshita Nathrani, Mr. Swapan
Singhal and Mr. Aryaman
Vavhher, Advocates with Mr.
Deepak Singh (Authorised
Representative of the
Petitioner).
versus

RAIL VIKAS NIGAM LTD. AND ANR & ANR.
.....Respondents
Through: Mr. Anil Seth, Mr. Udit Seth,
Mr. Divyanshu Singh,
Advocates for R-1.
Mr. Ateev Mathur and Mr.
Amol Sharma, Advocates for
R-2.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HARISH VAIDYANATHAN
SHANKAR

% JUDGEMENT (ORAL)
1. The present Petition, filed under Section 9 of the Arbitration
1
and Conciliation Act, 1996 , seeks the following interim reliefs:
“…..
a. Restrain Respondent No.1 from encashing the following Bank
Guarantees: -

1
Act
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:NEERU
Signing Date:24.04.2026
11:00:22
O.M.P.(I) (COMM.) 169/2026 Page 1 of 6

b. Restrain Respondent No.2 from acting on the demand notices dated
18.04.2026 issued by Respondent No.1 to it whereby Respondent
No.1 directed the Respondent No.2 to encash the Bank Guarantees
as stated in prayer (a)
c. Direct RVNL (Respondent No.1) to handover/return all the above
Bank Guarantees to the petitioner in view of the facts as stated
above in the petition.
d. Any other relief that this Hon'ble Court may deem fit in the facts
and circumstances of the present matter.”

2. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioner submits
that despite the directions passed by this Court vide Order dated
21.04.2026, whereby the encashment of Bank Guarantees was stayed,
the Respondents have encashed the same.
3. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Respondent No. 1,
on instructions, submits that the said guarantees came to be encashed
prior to the receipt of the details of the order by the Respondent, but
however, submits that the Respondents will deposit the said Amount,
which has been encashed, into a fixed deposit maintained by the
Petitioner.
4. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioner submits
that he has no objection to the suggestion put forth by the learned
counsel appearing on behalf of the Respondent No. 1
5. In view thereof, let the amounts, in respect of which the Bank
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:NEERU
Signing Date:24.04.2026
11:00:22
O.M.P.(I) (COMM.) 169/2026 Page 2 of 6

Guarantees have been invoked, be deposited by the Respondent No. 1
into the Bank Account of the Petitioner. The details of the said Bank
Account of the Petitioner are mentioned herein below:
Bank Name: ICICI Bank
Branch Name: J.S. Tower, Kanpur – 208001
Branch Code: 6288
Account Name: Anant Sky Infratech Pvt. Ltd.
Account Number: 628805502405
IFSC Code: ICIC0006288

6. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioner
undertakes not to deal with the said Amount, in any manner
whatsoever, till further directions the learned Arbitral Tribunal.
7. At this stage, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the parties
submit that they are ad idem that the disputes as raised herein be
referred to Arbitration in terms of Clause 20.3 of the Contract
2
Agreement dated 30.08.2024 as between the parties, which reads as
under:
“20.3 Arbitration
Any dispute, in respect of which amicable settlement has not been
reached, arising between the Employer and the Domestic or
Foreign Contractor related to any matter arising out of or
connected with this contract, then the contractor shall be entitled to
demand in writing that the dispute or difference be referred to
arbitration.

Only such dispute(s) or difference(s) in respect of which the
demand had been made for amicable settlement under GCC 20.2
but could not be settled, shall be referred to arbitration subject to
the condition that cumulative amount of claims in the contract is
not exceeding 20% of the contract price. In case the cumulative
amount of claims exceeds 20% of the contract price, arbitration
clause will not be applicable.

The Arbitration proceedings shall commence from the day, a
written and duly quantified demand for arbitration is received by
Chairman and Managing Director, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, New

2
Agreement
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:NEERU
Signing Date:24.04.2026
11:00:22
O.M.P.(I) (COMM.) 169/2026 Page 3 of 6

Delhi (CMD/RVNL).

The disputes so referred to arbitration shall be settled in accordance
with the Indian Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 and any
statutory modification or re-enactment thereof
……..”

8. Further, Clause 20.3.1 provides for the number of Arbitrators. It
states that the Arbitral tribunal shall consist of three arbitrators.

9. Therefore, in terms of Clause 20.3.1 and Clause 20.3 of the
Agreement, disputes shall be adjudicated by a three-member Arbitral
Tribunal, and each party shall nominate one Arbitrator each, and
thereafter the two nominated Arbitrators shall appoint a Presiding
Arbitrator.
10. In view of the foregoing, this Court is of the considered
opinion, since the parties are ad idem in regards to being referred to
Arbitration, that the adjudication of disputes must not be unduly
delayed, and therefore the statutory requirement of a Legal Notice
under Section 21 of the Act for invoking the Arbitration Clause and,
the subsequent requirement of filing a formal Petition under Section
11 of the Act, for appointment of an Arbitrator are hereby waived of.
11. The material on record indicates that the value of the disputes is
stated to be approximately Rs. 170 Crores.
12. Learned counsel for the Petitioner submits that the nominee
Arbitrator on behalf of the Petitioner is Mr. Justice G.P. Mittal
(Retd.) (Mobile No. 9910384619) .
13. Learned counsel for the Respondent submit that the nominee
Arbitrator on behalf of the Respondents is Mr. S.D. Sharma,
Director (Retd.), CPWD .
14. The aforementioned learned Arbitrators, so nominated, are
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:NEERU
Signing Date:24.04.2026
11:00:22
O.M.P.(I) (COMM.) 169/2026 Page 4 of 6

requested to nominate a Presiding Arbitrator within a period of two
(02) weeks from today.
15. The learned Arbitral Tribunal, so constituted, is requested to
enter upon reference and adjudicate the disputes inter se the parties.
16. The learned Arbitral Tribunal may proceed with the arbitration
proceedings, subject to furnishing to the parties the requisite
disclosures as required under Section 12(2) of the Act within a period
of one (01) week of entering into the reference.

17. Further, the learned Arbitral Tribunal, after entering upon the
reference, is requested that the present Petition under Section 9 of the
Act, be treated as an Application under Section 17 of the Act, and
appropriate directions may be passed by the learned Arbitral Tribunal.
18. The learned Arbitral Tribunal is also requested to accord their
consideration to the said Application under Section 17 of the Act, as
expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of two (02)
months from the constitution of the learned Arbitral Tribunal.
19. The respective costs of arbitration shall be borne equally by the
parties.
20. All rights and contentions of the parties are kept open, to be
decided by the learned Arbitral Tribunal on their merits, in accordance
with law.
21. Needless to state, nothing in this Order shall be construed as an
expression of opinion of this Court on the merits of the controversy.
22. The Registry is directed to send a receipt of this Order to the
parties through all permissible modes, including through e-mail.
23. The parties are at liberty to communicate this Order to the
learned Arbitrators expeditiously.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:NEERU
Signing Date:24.04.2026
11:00:22
O.M.P.(I) (COMM.) 169/2026 Page 5 of 6

24. The present Petition, along with pending Application(s), if any,
stands disposed of in the aforesaid terms.


HARISH VAIDYANATHAN SHANKAR, J.
APRIL 22, 2026/tk/DJ/jk

Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:NEERU
Signing Date:24.04.2026
11:00:22
O.M.P.(I) (COMM.) 169/2026 Page 6 of 6