The Supreme Court appointed retired Justice R V Raveendran as sole arbitrator to resolve a commercial dispute between Kinetic Green and Saera Electric over the Mayuri brand e-rickshaw. The dispute centres on an alleged exclusive manufacturing agreement — whether Saera held sole rights to manufacture Mayuri e-rickshaws for Kinetic Green. The court's intervention to appoint an arbitrator under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, signals a breakdown in the parties' agreement on arbitral appointment.

This appointment illustrates Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, which empowers the Supreme Court (for international arbitrations) or High Courts (for domestic ones) to appoint an arbitrator when the parties fail to do so per their agreed procedure. The court acts as an appointing authority — not to decide the merits, but to ensure the arbitral process begins.

The underlying commercial dispute involves a claim of manufacturing exclusivity — a contractual right of one party to be the sole producer of a product under a brand arrangement. Such exclusivity clauses are common in commercial licensing and joint-venture contracts and raise core contract-law questions: Was the exclusivity clause a condition or a warranty? Was there a valid, enforceable agreement? Did one party's conduct amount to breach or repudiation?

For CLAT PG purposes, the exam-relevant doctrine here spans two intersecting areas. First, arbitration law: under Section 11(6), if a party fails to act per appointment procedure, the court steps in — the arbitrator's jurisdiction flows from the agreement, not the court order. Second, contract law: exclusivity agreements raise questions of offer, acceptance, and whether a manufacturer's unilateral supply to a third party amounts to breach of an exclusive dealing covenant.

Justice Raveendran's appointment as sole arbitrator (rather than a three-member panel) is also significant — sole arbitrators are typically agreed upon or court-appointed when cost and efficiency favour a streamlined process.