In Brief
The appellant, a highways corporation, issued a Request for Proposal for road construction. A dispute arose regarding whether an arbitration clause became enforceable upon acceptance of a Letter of Award or only after signing the final concession agreement. The Supreme Court held that the arbitration clause does not spring into being at the LOA stage; it exists only in the ultimate agreement. Since the LOA is part of the bidding process schedule ending with the concession agreement signing, disputes at the LOA stage must be resolved by courts under the RFP's dispute resolution clause, not through arbitration. The Court set aside the lower judgment and allowed the appeal.
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