OCD-18 ORDER SHEET IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA COMMERCIAL DIVISION ORIGINAL SIDE AP-COM/766/2026 NABA KUMAR BHUNIA VS THE GHATAL MUNICIPALITY AND ANR BEFORE: The Hon’ble JUSTICE GAURANG KANTH Date : 21st September, 2026. Appearance: Ms. Neelina Chatterjee, Adv. Ms. Ahana Bhattacharya, Adv. ..for the petitioner Mr. Manabendra Thakur, Adv. Mr. Swarup Kumar Ghosh, Adv. Ms. Poulami Chakraborty, Adv. ..for the respondents 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. Learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that this Court vide order dated 24th September, 2024 had appointed the Learned Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties. The pleadings were completed on 07.03.2025. With the consent of the parties, the mandate of the Arbitral Tribunal was extended for a period of six months till 7th September, 2026. 2 Learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that the matter is at the stage of recording of evidence. Learned Counsel for the respondents states that he has no objection to the extension of the mandate of the Arbitral Tribunal. Upon consideration of the submissions of learned Counsel for 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 arbitral proceedings and in the interest of justice, the mandate of the learned Arbitral Tribunal is extended for a further period of ten months from the date of communication of this order. The learned sole Arbitrator is requested to make all reasonable endeavours to conclude the proceedings and publish the arbitral award within the extended time period. With the aforesaid directions, the present petition stands disposed of. (GAURANG KANTH, J.) bp.