The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has revived long-stalled arbitration proceedings in a two-decade-old dispute over the Rs 531 crore Bemina bridge project in Srinagar. The Court ruled that claims raised by Mir Sons Construction Pvt Ltd cannot be considered exhausted merely because a previous interim arbitral award was set aside.

Justice Sanjay Dhar, allowing a petition by the construction firm, appointed former High Court judge Justice Sunil Hali as the new sole arbitrator to resolve the dispute between the company and the Union Territory government along with its Public Works (R&B) Department. The Court rejected the department’s argument that the matter was no longer arbitrable, stating that the controversy remains alive and must be adjudicated.
The dispute dates back to November 1999, when Mir Sons Construction Pvt Ltd was awarded a contract to build a 254-metre, two-lane prestressed concrete bridge over the Doodganga Nallah at Bemina, with a completion timeline of 36 months. Disagreements arose over delayed payments, with the department citing contractor delays and claiming only 30% of work was completed on time. The project faced extended delays, finishing in 2008, and the department alleged excess payments of over Rs 1.04 crore had been made inadvertently.
In 2014, retired Chief Engineer Mian Bashir Ahmad was appointed as sole arbitrator and issued an interim award in June 2018, granting Rs 203 lakh to the contractor. However, the High Court set aside the award in October 2022, noting it was “not reasoned” and therefore “patently illegal and perverse.” The arbitrator had already withdrawn from proceedings in September 2021 due to serious health issues, prompting the company to seek a substitute arbitrator.
Justice Dhar clarified that the interim award’s annulment did not equate to adjudication on merits and emphasized that the original arbitrator’s mandate had terminated with his withdrawal. Exercising powers under Section 11(6) of the J&K Arbitration and Conciliation Act, the Court appointed Justice Sunil Hali to continue the arbitration. The parties have been directed to appear before him on a date to be fixed, with arbitral costs to be shared equally, pending the final award.