Shimla, July 11 -- The Himachal Pradesh High Court has set aside an ex parte arbitration award of over Rs 95 crore passed in favour of Delhi-based Medipole Pharmaceutical India Pvt. Ltd. against Bihar Medical Services and Infrastructure Corporation Ltd. (BMSICL), citing serious procedural violations and denial of fair hearing.

A division bench of Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Ranjan Sharma delivered the verdict while allowing the writ petition and arbitration challenge filed by BMSICL, which had argued that it was not given a proper opportunity to present its case during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This Court is of the considered opinion that the arbitral proceedings conducted ex parte in March 2021 during the peak of Covid, with...