The appeal arose from an arbitration award concerning the interpretation of a 'variation' clause in a contract between National Fertilizers Ltd appellant and Puran Chand Nangia respondent-contractor The clause allowed ... the appellant to issue directions to the contractor varying the extent of the contract work both upwards and downwards up to The dispute centred on whether the variation limit should be calculated based on the net overall increase in work increases minus decreases or by adding up all variations both increases and decreases If variations exceeded of the contract price the contractor could claim market rates instead of being confined to contract rates