The Supreme Court has called on a heavyweight to cool the fire in one of India’s most bitterly contested commercial battles. Former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has been roped in as mediator between Euro Pratik Ispat (India) Pvt. Ltd. and Geomin Industries Pvt. Ltd., locked in a fight over a staggering 1.7 lakh metric tonnes of iron ore.
A bench led by Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan noted that the litigation had grown “murkier and murkier” with time, prompting the rare intervention of a former top judge to break the deadlock.
Both sides—represented by legal stalwarts Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Gopal Subramanium—readily agreed to the court’s suggestion for mediation.
The dispute stems from an earlier order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which had revived Geomin’s suit after it was tossed out by a commercial court for failing to follow Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015. That provision mandates pre-institution mediation unless urgent interim relief is sought. The High Court held that Geomin’s plea for urgent restraint on Euro Pratik—blocking it from moving or selling the ore—was enough to bypass that hurdle.
Unhappy with the ruling, Euro Pratik knocked on the doors of the apex court, only to be met with a pause button. The Supreme Court has now ordered that the warring parties maintain complete status quo while Justice Chandrachud steers the mediation. All civil and criminal proceedings tied to the dispute are frozen until his report lands on the bench’s desk.
His fee will be worked out in consultation with the companies, and the matter is scheduled to return in eight weeks for further directions.
For now, the mountains of iron ore sit untouched—waiting on words, not wheels.