Karnataka HC Appoints Common Sole Arbitrator For Four Landowners’ JDA Disputes Despite Three-Arbitrator Clauses

The petitioners, each owners of separate properties, entered into separate Joint Development Agreements (JDAs) with the respondent on 30 July 2015. Each JDA contained an identically worded arbitration clause providing for a three-member tribunal, with each party appointing one arbitrator and the two arbitrators appointing the third.

After disputes arose, each petitioner issued a notice invoking arbitration under Section 21 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996; the respondent replied, and the petitioners then filed these petitions under Section 11(6). The respondent was served but did not appear.

Although the petitions sought appointment of arbitrators under the clause, petitioners’ counsel submitted that a common sole arbitrator could be appointed in view of the nature of the disputes.

Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 provides the basis for seeking court intervention in the appointment of an arbitral tribunal where the agreed appointment procedure is not followed.

Section 21 addresses commencement of arbitral proceedings through a request to refer the dispute to arbitration.

Clause 27.3 of the JDAs provided for disputes unresolved by conciliation to be referred to a three-member arbitral tribunal, with the seat of arbitration in Bengaluru and English as the language of proceedings.

The Court found that each JDA contained an arbitration clause and that each petitioner had invoked it by issuing a Section 21 notice.

It also noted counsel’s submission that, given the nature of the disputes, one common sole arbitrator should adjudicate them.

With the respondent absent despite service, the Court concluded that a common sole arbitrator was required to resolve the disputes. The order does not separately explain how that appointment was reconciled with Clause 27.3’s three-arbitrator procedure.

The parties’ claims and contentions were left open; the Registry was directed to communicate the order and return original documents after making copies; and the parties were directed to appear before the Centre’s Director on 18 December 2026 at 11:30 a.m.