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Informist, Wednesday, Jul. 15, 2026

 

--SC refuses relief to Adani Global on arbitrator appointment in cargo case 

--CONTEXT: Adani Global challenged appointment of arbitrator in cargo case 

--SC allows Adani Global to argue arbitration plea before Madras HC 

--CONTEXT: Arbitral tribunal rejected Adani Global's $28.91 mln claims 

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to entertain a plea by Adani Global Pte Ltd., a step-down wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd., challenging the appointment of an arbitrator in a cargo case dispute with Tamil Nadu Power Generation Co. Ltd. A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana said Adani Global had no objection to the appointment of arbitrator till the arbitral award was passed, but had now come to the high court and the apex court. The top court allowed Adani Global to raise its objections to the arbitral award before the Madras High Court.

 

In 2023, the arbitral tribunal had rejected Adani Global's claims of $28.91 million in a dispute with Tamil Nadu Power Generation Co. Challenging the arbitral award, Adani Global moved the high court and first raised preliminary objections to the appointment of an arbitrator. After getting no relief from the high court, Adani Global moved the apex court.

 

The case has its genesis in Tamil Nadu Power Generation Co. inviting bids in 2016 for supply of imported steam coal of any origin, wherein Adani Global emerged as the successful bidder. Adani Global supplied the entire quantity of coal and the last shipment completed its discharge of coal in 2017. However, disputes and differences arose between the parties on account of deduction of amount towards alleged delay in discharge of cargo and deduction towards liquidated damages.

 

Since the disputes and differences could not be amicably resolved, a notice invoking arbitration was issued by Adani Global and an arbitral tribunal was constituted. While Adani Global filed claims of $28.91 million, Tamil Nadu Power Generation Co. filed counter claims of $26.48 million. In 2023, the arbitral tribunal rejected both the companies' claims and counter-claims, following which Adani Global moved the high court.

 

Before the high court, Adani Global said that it had initially suggested the names of three retired judges of the Supreme Court for appointment as an arbitrator and had filed a petition for this in the top court. However, when the petition was pending, Tamil Nadu Power Generation Co. appointed an arbitrator, following which Adani Global withdrew its petition before the apex court.

 

Before the arbitral tribunal was constituted, Adani Global sent a letter to Tamil Nadu Power Generation Co. saying appointment of the sole arbitrator was acceptable. Later, however, Adani Global argued that the letter was written by the company without knowing about its rights to oppose the unilateral appointment of the sole arbitrator, which has been recognised by the apex court time and again and that the communication could not be construed as an agreement in writing. 

 

Rejecting Adani Global's argument, the high court held that the company was very much aware of its rights to oppose such an appointment of arbitrator and still consented to this. As a result, both the appointment of the sole arbitrator as well as the award passed by the sole arbitrator couldn't be held to be, ex facie, invalid. Rejecting Adani Global's preliminary objections, the high court asked both the companies to argue the case on merits.

 

At 1327 IST, shares of Adani Enterprises Ltd. were down 1.2% at INR 3,151.30 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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