M/S RANJIT SINGH & CO. vs M/S ORISSA POWER TRANSMISSION CO.LD. — C.A. No. 2020/2014

Case Summary: Ranjit Singh & Co. v. Orissa Power Transmission Co. Ltd. Outcome: The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and set aside the High Court's May 6, 2011 judgment. The Court ruled the High Court lacked jurisdiction to disqualify an arbitrator who was properly appointed under the contract's arbitration clause. The Court held that challenges to arbitrator jurisdiction must be raised before the arbitral tribunal under Section 16(2) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, not through High Court intervention under Section 11(6). Key Issue: After disputes arose in 2008, the parties proceeded to arbitration with three arbitrators appointed per contract terms. Respondent challenged the third arbitrator's appointment before the High Court, which initially rejected the petition but later accepted a review petition, directing the third arbitrator be excluded from hearing jurisdiction challenges. The Supreme Court found this exceeded judicial authority and violated statutory procedure. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.