OCD-14 ORDER SHEET IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA COMMERCIAL DIVISION ORIGINAL SIDE AP-COM/225/2026 RUKMANI DEVI BANGUR AND ORS. VS HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORPORATION LIMITED BEFORE: The Hon’ble JUSTICE GAURANG KANTH Date : 31st March, 2026. Appearance Mr. Sarosij Dasgupta, Adv. Ms. Rajeshwari Prasad, Adv. …for the petitioners Mr. Biswanath Chatterjee, Adv. Mr. Sobhan Kumar Pathak, Adv. …for the respondent The Court: Affidavit of service filed by the petitioner is taken on record. The petitioner has 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 petitioner submits that this Court vide order dated 16.02.2024 appointed a sole arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties. The pleadings were completed on 01.10.2024. The parties with mutual consent extended the mandate of the arbitral tribunal till 31.03.2026. The matter is at the stage of evidence. Learned Counsel for the respondents states that he has no objection to the extension of the mandate of the arbitral tribunal. 2 Upon considering the materials placed on record and the argument advanced by the learned Counsel for the parties, 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 order to ensure expeditious conclusion of the arbitration this Court deems it appropriate to further extend the mandate of the arbitral tribunal by a period of eight months from the date of this order. 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.) S. Mandi