HC allowed the petition and quashed and set aside the impugned...

HC allowed the petition and quashed and set aside the impugned arbitral award dated 21.08.2024. The court held the Presiding Arbitrator was de jure ineligible for appointment for failure to make the disclosure required by Section 12(1) of the A&C Act, 1996, and that the Arbitral Tribunal erred in dismissing the petitioner's Section 12 challenge to the appointment. Relying on the distinction between non-waivable disqualification and situations giving rise to doubts about impartiality, the HC found the omission fatal to the arbitrator's appointment and remedial waiver inapplicable, thereby allowing and disposing of the petition in favour of the petitioner.