ORDER OCD - 19 IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA COMMERCIAL DIVISION ORIGINAL SIDE AP-COM/307/2026 INDERJIT MALHOTRA AND OTHERS VS KAMAL KUMAR JINDAL BEFORE HON'BLE JUSTICE GAURANG KANTH Date: May 06, 2026. Appearance:- Ms. Antara Biswas, Adv. Ms. Nikita Khaitan, Adv. …for petitioners. Mr. Shreyan Bhattacharyya, Adv. Mr. Mrinmay Mukherjee, Adv. Mr. S.K. Baid, Adv. …for respondent. The Court:- Affidavit of service is taken on record. The petitioners have preferred the present petition under Section 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, seeking extension of the mandate of the arbitral tribunal for conclusion of the arbitral proceedings and publication of the arbitral award. Learned Counsel for the petitioners states that this Court vide order dated 14th December, 2021 had appointed a sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties. This Court vide order dated 1st May, 2024 substituted the earlier Arbitrator and appointed a new sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties. Learned counsel for the petitioners further states that the proceedings are presently at the stage of arguments. The learned sole Arbitrator has already conducted more than 44 hearings. 2 Learned Counsel for the respondent states that he has no objection to the extension of the mandate of the arbitral tribunal. Upon consideration of the submissions of the parties and the materials placed on record, this Court is satisfied that there has been no undue or unwarranted delay on the part of the learned sole arbitrator in conducting the arbitral proceedings. Having regard to the advanced stage of the proceedings and in the interest of justice, the mandate of the learned sole arbitrator is extended for a further period of eight months from today. The learned sole arbitrator is requested to make all reasonable endeavours to conclude the arbitral proceedings and publish the arbitral award within the extended time period. With the aforesaid directions, the present petition stands disposed of. (GAURANG KANTH, J.) R. D. Barua