OCD-4 ORDER SHEET IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA COMMERCIAL DIVISION ORIGINAL SIDE AP-COM/439/2026 SPML INFRA LIMITED VS WEST BENGAL STATE ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION COMPANY LIMITED BEFORE: The Hon’ble JUSTICE GAURANG KANTH Date : 10th July, 2026. Appearance: Mr. Prithwish Roy Chowdhury, Adv. …for the petitioner Mr. Supriyo Chattopadhyay, Adv. D. Chatterjee, Adv. …for the respondent The Court: The petitioner has preferred the present petition under Section 29A(4) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, seeking extension of the mandate of the Arbitral Tribunal for completion of the arbitral proceedings and publication of the arbitral award. In terms of the contract entered into between the parties, the arbitral tribunal was constituted and held its first meeting on 22.03.2021. The pleadings were completed on 29.06.2022. With the consent of the parties, the mandate of the arbitral tribunal was extended for six months till 28.12.2023. Thereafter, this Court vide order dated 27.02.2024 extended the mandate of the arbitral tribunal by a further period of six months till 28.06.2024. In the meanwhile, due to the ill health and subsequent demise of the presiding Arbitrator, the parties by mutual consent reconstituted the 2 arbitral tribunal. Thereafter, this Court vide order dated 10.12.2024 extended the mandate of the Tribunal by 18 months till 09.06.2026. Learned Counsel for the petitioner states that the Tribunal has already held more than 56 sittings. Learned Counsel for the parties submit that the matter is at the stage of final arguments. 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 both 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 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 further for a period of twelve 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 observations, the present petition stands disposed of. (GAURANG KANTH, J.) R.Bhar