{"id":7587,"date":"2026-06-18T08:16:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T02:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lawfultalks3.selfst.art\/could-pwd-keep-a-contractor-waiting-indefinitely-and-pay-only-1-bombay-hc-calls-the-idea-absurd\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T17:40:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T12:10:30","slug":"could-pwd-keep-a-contractor-waiting-indefinitely-and-pay-only-1-bombay-hc-calls-the-idea-absurd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawfultalks3.selfst.art\/?p=7587","title":{"rendered":"\u201cCould PWD Keep a Contractor Waiting Indefinitely and Pay Only 1%? Bombay HC Calls the Idea Absurd\u2019\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The Bombay High Court recently&nbsp; held that a contract clause limiting damages to 1% of the contract value cannot be applied mechanically when the employer itself is responsible for a serious and prolonged breach of the contract. In an important judgment, Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan partly upheld an arbitral award in favour of Khare and Tarkunde Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. (KTIPL), while setting aside only the portion relating to interest.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p style=\"text-align:center\"><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\"><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Background of the Dispute:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The dispute arose from Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts entered into between the Public Works Department (PWD), Government of Maharashtra, and KTIPL for the construction of various bridges and road infrastructure projects worth more than \u00e2\u201a\u00b9148 crore.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">PWD Failed to Provide Land Access:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Under the contracts, PWD was required to provide at least 90% of the Right of Way (ROW) within 15 days from the execution of the contracts. The remaining portion was to be handed over within the stipulated period thereafter. The entire project was to be completed within 18 months from the appointed date.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">However, although January 27, 2015 was fixed as the appointed date, PWD failed to provide the required 90% Right of Way. KTIPL repeatedly informed the authorities that the required land had not been acquired and that access to the project sites was not available.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Letters exchanged between the parties over several years showed continuous delays in handing over the project site. Although PWD officials repeatedly recommended extensions of time, formal approvals were never granted. Ultimately, KTIPL invoked arbitration in October 2018, after which PWD terminated the contracts.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Tribunal Awards Damages:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The arbitral tribunal found that the delays were mainly caused by PWD&rsquo;s failure to provide the Right of Way and awarded damages to KTIPL.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">PWD challenged the award under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. It argued that Clause 4.1.5 of the contract clearly limited total damages to 1% of the contract value and that the tribunal had effectively rewritten the contract by refusing to apply that cap.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Court Rejects PWD&rsquo;s Argument:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Justice Sundaresan rejected this argument. The Court held that the issue could not be decided by looking at a single clause in isolation. The Court noted that the entire contractual arrangement was based on PWD&rsquo;s obligation to provide 90% of the Right of Way at the very beginning of the project.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The Court observed:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">&ldquo;Evidently, there is a chronic and clear default on PWD&rsquo;s part in complying with its obligation to provide the ROW, which was envisaged at a very early stage of the contract.&rdquo;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Effect of Section 28(3) Amendment:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The Court further noted that after the 2015 amendment to Section 28(3) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, arbitral tribunals are required to &ldquo;take into account&rdquo; the terms of the contract rather than decide disputes strictly &ldquo;in accordance with&rdquo; the contract, as was the earlier position.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">According to the Court, this amendment gives arbitral tribunals greater flexibility to assess contractual disputes based on the realities of how the contract was performed.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Tribunal Can Consider the Reality<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Justice Sundaresan explained, &ldquo;Section 28(3) of the Act is not a license to ignore the terms of the contract at all, but it is a statutory recognition that when parties invest their trust in an Arbitral Tribunal to adjudicate their disputes, the Arbitral Tribunal would take into account the terms of the contract.&rdquo;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The Court found that applying the 1% damages cap despite PWD&rsquo;s extensive breach would lead to irrational and commercially absurd results.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The Court noted that the project, which was supposed to be completed within 18 months, continued for around 45 months before being terminated. Despite this, the contractual requirement of handing over 90% of the Right of Way was never fulfilled.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Highlighting the unreasonable consequences of PWD&rsquo;s interpretation, the Court observed:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">&ldquo;The delay in this case is abnormal and the exclusionary clause cannot be blindly applied.&rdquo;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Court Calls PWD&rsquo;s Interpretation Absurd:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The Court further held that accepting PWD&rsquo;s argument would allow it to keep delaying performance indefinitely while remaining protected by a very small cap on damages.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The judgment records:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">&ldquo;If PWD&rsquo;s contention were to be accepted, it would follow that PWD would be entitled to keep KTIPL deployed for an infinite time or even for another five years or 10 years for that matter, and take its own time to provide the ROW with no scope for damages for such delay ever crossing 1% of the contract value.&rdquo;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Calling such a result unacceptable, the Court remarked:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">&ldquo;Such a proposition is absurd to say the least.&rdquo;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Tribunal Did Not Rewrite the Contract:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The Court also discussed the doctrine of business efficacy in detail. It held that contractual clauses cannot be interpreted separately when such an interpretation defeats the commercial purpose of the agreement.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Relying on the Supreme Court&rsquo;s decisions in Nabha Power and other judgments, Justice Sundaresan held that the arbitral tribunal was justified in harmonising the damages cap with the wider contractual obligations undertaken by both parties.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">According to the Court, the tribunal had not rewritten the contract. Instead, it had interpreted the contract in a commercially sensible manner.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The judgment states:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">&ldquo;The Learned Arbitral Tribunal, far from re-writing the terms of the contract has restricted itself to reconciling in a cohesive manner, the multiple provisions of the contract and giving them a logical meaning.&rdquo;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">No Interference With Damages Award:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The High Court also rejected PWD&rsquo;s argument that the tribunal had relied on irrelevant judgments.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The Court held that the decisions relied upon by the tribunal, including judgments dealing with restrictions on damages and compensation for contractual breaches, were directly relevant to the dispute.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The Court concluded that the tribunal&rsquo;s findings were plausible, reasonable and consistent with settled principles of contract law. Therefore, no interference was warranted under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Court Sets Aside Interest Award:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">However, the Court reached a different conclusion regarding the award of interest.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The arbitral tribunal had awarded interest at the rate of 18% per annum compounded quarterly for the pre-arbitration, pendente lite and post-award periods.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">PWD argued that this was contrary to the contractual provisions governing interest.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The Court accepted this argument.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Interest Award Held Illegal:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">It observed that the parties had consciously agreed to different interest arrangements under different clauses of the contract. However, the tribunal adopted an 18% interest rate by relying on a clause that dealt with a completely different situation. The tribunal also converted that rate into quarterly compound interest.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Justice Sundaresan held:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">&ldquo;the Learned Arbitral Tribunal ought to have been mindful that the 18% rate of interest being adopted from the clause containing KTIPL&rsquo;s potential obligation to pay interest and varying even that to compounding at quarterly rests, and justifying it by reference to the rate of interest borne by KTIPL with its lenders, to my mind is, a perverse and patently illegal approach.&rdquo;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The Court observed that the tribunal had effectively moved beyond awarding interest and had entered the area of assessing damages, which was not permissible in the circumstances of the case.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Final Outcome:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Relying on the Supreme Court&rsquo;s decision in Gayatri Balasamy v. ISG Novasoft Technologies Ltd., the Court held that the interest portion of the award could be separated from the rest of the award without affecting the remaining findings.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Accordingly, while the findings relating to liability and damages were upheld, the award granting interest at 18% per annum compounded quarterly was quashed and set aside.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">As a result, the Bombay High Court partly allowed the petitions. It upheld the arbitral award on all substantive issues relating to damages and set aside only the component concerning interest.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">The Court also clarified that the issue regarding the appropriate rate of interest remains arbitrable and may be referred to arbitration again for fresh adjudication.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\">Case Details:&nbsp;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n <p><span style=\"font-size:16px\"><span style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif\"><a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1dH_VI5f_LfkDi3t6XfaxpfqeP4-HOZnK\/view?usp=drivesdk\">Public Works Department, Government of Maharashtra v. Khare and Tarkunde Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., Arbitration Petition Nos. 262, 263 and 264 of 2024.<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Bombay High Court recently&nbsp; held that a contract clause limiting damages to 1% of the contract value cannot be applied mechanically when the employer itself is responsible for a serious and prolonged breach of the contract. In an important judgment, Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan partly upheld an arbitral award in favour of Khare and Tarkunde [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":6173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-high-courts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u201cCould PWD Keep a Contractor Waiting Indefinitely and Pay Only 1%? Bombay HC Calls the Idea Absurd\u2019\u2019 - Lawful Talks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cCould PWD Keep a Contractor Waiting Indefinitely and Pay Only 1%? Bombay HC Calls the Idea Absurd\u2019\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Bombay High Court recently&nbsp; held that a contract clause limiting damages to 1% of the contract value cannot be applied mechanically when the employer itself is responsible for a serious and prolonged breach of the contract. In an important judgment, Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan partly upheld an arbitral award in favour of Khare and Tarkunde [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lawfultalks3.selfst.art\/?p=7587\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lawful Talks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T02:46:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T12:10:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lawfultalks3.selfst.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9eba32edb776c3088f9c6b9ad9e20716_2.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anam Sayyed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anam Sayyed\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lawfultalks3.selfst.art\\\/?p=7587#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lawfultalks3.selfst.art\\\/?p=7587\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anam Sayyed\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lawfultalks3.selfst.art\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f3962cb381e0dbe247ceeac08e3aab58\"},\"headline\":\"\u201cCould PWD Keep a Contractor Waiting Indefinitely and Pay Only 1%? 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Bombay HC Calls the Idea Absurd\u2019\u2019 - Lawful Talks","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u201cCould PWD Keep a Contractor Waiting Indefinitely and Pay Only 1%? Bombay HC Calls the Idea Absurd\u2019\u2019","og_description":"The Bombay High Court recently&nbsp; held that a contract clause limiting damages to 1% of the contract value cannot be applied mechanically when the employer itself is responsible for a serious and prolonged breach of the contract. 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