Parties may by consent waive contractual appointment procedures and submit disputes to a sole arbitrator.

L&T Finance Limited filed a petition under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, seeking interim measures.

The parties agreed that their disputes could be referred to arbitration and jointly proposed Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw (Retd.) as sole arbitrator.

Separately, an impleadment applicant sought leave to withdraw its application, which the Court dismissed as withdrawn.

1. Whether, by consent, a sole arbitrator could be appointed to adjudicate the disputes between the parties

2. Whether the pending Section 9 petition should, after constitution of the arbitral tribunal, be treated as an application under Section 17 of the Act

3. Whether the impleadment application should be permitted to be withdrawn

Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, provides for court-ordered interim measures, while Section 17 empowers the arbitral tribunal to grant interim measures.

The Court recorded the parties’ agreement to waive their contractual and formal procedure and proceed with a sole arbitrator; it cited no precedent or further legal test.

As all parties agreed that an arbitrator could be appointed and jointly proposed the same candidate, the Court found no impediment to appointing a sole arbitrator.

To have the interim-measures request considered by the tribunal after its constitution, the Court directed that the Section 9 petition be treated as an application under Section 17 and requested its decision within 30 days.

The impleadment applicant’s request to withdraw was accepted.

It left all pleas, including arbitrability, maintainability and jurisdiction, open for determination by the arbitrator, and directed that the Section 9 petition be treated as a Section 17 application after the tribunal is constituted.

The impleadment application was dismissed as withdrawn, and the Section 9 petition was disposed of in those terms.