Reconstitution of Committee of External Eminent Persons/Experts for Dispute Resolution

REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99 The Gazette of India CG-DL-E-27052026-272913 EXTRAORDINARY PART I—Section 1 PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 145] NEW DELHI, TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2026/JYAISTHA 5, 1948 MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 26th May, 2026 Reconstitution of Committee of External Eminent Persons/ Experts for Dispute Resolution F. No. Expl. 15022(13)/6/2017-ONG-D-V (E-38889).— In partial modification of the Gazette Notification No. 387 dated 16th December 2019, published on 17th December, 2019 and subsequent notifications in the matter, the Government of India hereby reconstitutes the Committee of External Eminent Persons/Experts for Dispute Resolution with the following members, namely:- +-----+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Sl. No | Name | +=====+=================================================================================+ | 01 | Sh. Rajiv Bansal, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. | +-----+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 02 | Smt. Barnali Barua Tokhi (Retd.), Former Managing Director, BPRL | +-----+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 03 | Sh. Deepak Mishra, Former Director and Chief Executive, ICRIER | +-----+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 2. Tenure of Members 2.1 The Tenure of the members of the Committee shall be three years from the date of this Notification. However, the Government reserves the right to dissociate any member from the Committee at any time without assigning any reason. 2.2 The members shall also be eligible for extension of tenure. 3. Impartiality of Members The members of the Committee shall at all times remain impartial to the parties during the course of the conciliation or mediation proceedings. 4. Powers and Functions of Members The Committee shall exercise all powers and discharge all functions necessary for carrying out conciliation and mediation proceedings for resolution of the dispute between the parties as per the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and endeavour that the parties arrive at the settlement agreement within three months from the date of the first meeting of the Committee. The members and the parties may for reasons to be recorded in writing extend the time for arriving at such settlement agreement by mutual agreement. 5. Terms and Conditions of the Committee 5.1 The members of the Committee acting as conciliator or mediator will be reimbursed expenses incurred on airfare and local commutation from their place of work to the place of meeting, as per entitlement, unless transport and commutation facility is provided to them for attending the Committee meetings. Each member will also be paid an honorarium of Rs. 20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand only) per hearing of the conciliation or mediation proceedings. 5.2 The Committee acting as conciliator or mediator may take service of third party / expert agency to aid and assist it in discharge of its functions as and when required. 5.3 Government reserves the right to change the terms and conditions as and when required without assigning any reasons thereof. 6. Terms and Conditions of Conciliation or Mediation Proceedings 6.1 Any dispute or difference arising out of a contract relating to exploration blocks / fields of India can be referred to the Committee, if both parties to the contract agree in writing for conciliation or mediation and further agree to not invoke arbitration proceedings thereafter. 6.2 Upon receipt of a request referring dispute for resolution, the Committee shall conduct the conciliation / mediation proceedings. The proceedings shall be based on the principles of fairness, justice and good conscience. For procedural aspect, the Committee may take assistance of the principles and regulations as mentioned in Para 3 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. 6.3 Unless the parties agree otherwise, the venue of the conciliation or mediation proceedings shall be New Delhi, India. 6.4 The parties will represent their case before the Committee acting as the Conciliator or Mediator only through their employees or executives. Advocates or consultants shall not participate in the conciliation proceedings, unless the Committee on application filed by a party to the proceedings find that some issue of legal nature or an issue requiring highly specialised knowledge is in dispute requiring clarification / interpretation by an Advocate or Consultant and takes a view that in absence of such assistance or participation, the party's interest shall not be adequately represented in the conciliation or mediation proceedings. 6.5 It shall be open to the parties to make any suggestions, proposal or alternative proposals for amicable settlement of dispute. 6.6 Parties shall not claim any interest on claims or counter-claims from the date of notice for conciliation or mediation till adjudication of the Settlement Agreement, if so arrived at. In case, parties are unable to arrive at a settlement, no interest shall be claimed in any further proceedings for the period from the date of notice till date of completion of the proceedings pending before the Committee or date of receipt of the final recommendations from the Committee or date of execution of the Settlement Agreement, whichever is later. 6.7 The parties are to keep all matters relating to the conciliation or mediation proceedings confidential and cannot rely upon them as an evidence in arbitration / court proceeding. Confidentiality extends also to the Settlement Agreement, except where its disclosure is necessary for purpose of implementation and enforcement. 6.8 All cost and expense incurred on the conciliation or mediation proceedings before the Committee including fees of the members of the Committee, third party / expert agency shall be borne equally by the parties. However, the party requesting for engagement of an advocate or consultant shall bear the fees charged by such advocate or consultant. 6.9 Pendency of arbitral or judicial proceedings shall not constitute any bar on commencement of conciliation or mediation proceedings before the Committee, even if the conciliation or mediation proceedings are on the same subject matter / issue as the arbitral or judicial proceedings. 6.10 The parties shall not initiate or take any step to initiate any arbitral or judicial proceedings in respect of a dispute, which is a subject matter of the conciliation of mediation proceedings pending before the Committee. 6.11 The secretarial assistance to the Committee shall be provided by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). 7. Nothing comprised herein shall vitiate any proceedings held before the Committee upon its reconstitution. With effect from the date of publication of this Notification, all pending proceedings shall stand transferred to the reconstituted Committee on 'as is where is basis' and the reconstituted Committee shall have jurisdiction to continue dealing with/hearing all proceedings that were pending before the Committee and shall take further steps necessary for their expeditious settlement. SACHIN KUMAR, Under Secy. Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064 and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.