NHAI banks on retired judges on arbitration body to lift dispute burden

State-run infrastructure behemoth National Highways Authority of India Ltd (NHAI) appears to have hit upon a new way to clear its legal disputes as it struggles to manage a massive debt pile-up of ₹2.76 trillion.

- Manas Pimpalkhare & Subhash Narayan

NHAI's previous legal strategy to fast-track contractual disputes by using more arbitration has fallen flat, stakeholders say, with the result that pending arbitration claims at the end of FY23 have ballooned to over ₹1.16 trillion.

Now, it has set its eyes on the Society for Affordable Redressal of Disputes (Sarod), a body it created 12 years ago for speedy arbitration in the roadways sector.

Gunita Pahwa, joint managing partner at S&A Law Offices, a Gurugram-based law firm, told Mint that up until the first few weeks of 2025, only about six retired judges were empanelled with Sarod, while the rest were former NHAI officials or other technical experts.