Published on: October 24, 2023 at 16:07 IST
Court: Supreme Court of India
Citation: National Insurance V. Boghara Polyfab (2009)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that the Hon’ble Chief Justice or his Designate Judge while deciding the application for appointment of an Arbitrator under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 has 3 kind of issues which are namely as follows.
- Category I: Issues which the Chief Justice or his designate is bound to decide
- Category II: Issues which Chief Justice or his designate can decide, if he may choose to decide;
- Category III: Issues which should be left to the Arbitral Tribunal to decide.
22.1. The issues (first category) which the Chief Justice/his designate will have to decide are:
(a) Whether the party making the application has approached the appropriate High Court.
(b) Whether there is an arbitration agreement and whether the party who has applied under Section 11 of the Act, is a party to such an agreement.
22.2. The issues (second category) which the Chief Justice/his designate may choose to decide (or leave them to the decision of the Arbitral Tribunal) are:
(a) Whether the claim is a dead (long-barred) claim or a live claim.
(b) Whether the parties have concluded the contract/transaction by recording satisfaction of their mutual rights and obligation or by receiving the final payment without objection.
22.3. The issues (third category) which the Chief Justice/his designate should leave exclusively to the Arbitral Tribunal are:
(i) Whether a claim made falls within the arbitration clause (as for example, a matter which is reserved for final decision of a departmental authority and excepted or excluded from arbitration).
(ii) Merits or any claim involved in the arbitration.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra