Kerala High Court: ED Can Investigate Without FIR in Scheduled Offence Cases (CMRL Matter)  ||  Delhi High Court Upholds TRAI Rule Capping TV Advertisements at 12 Minutes Per Hour  ||  Supreme Court Directs High Courts to Deliver Judgments in 3 Months and Bail Orders in One Day  ||  Supreme Court: Successful Resolution Applicant Cannot Negotiate Further After CoC Approval  ||  Supreme Court: Succession Law Applies, Not Primogeniture, to Ex-Royal’s Private Estate Inheritance  ||  Supreme Court: Writ Jurisdiction Cannot Challenge Arbitrator’s Section 16 Decision  ||  Supreme Court: Sanyasi Status Cannot Be Ground to Reject Land Compensation Claim  ||  Supreme Court: Section 33(1)(a) of Arbitration Act Cannot Alter Nature of Interest in Award  ||  Supreme Court: Society Office Bearers Not Liable for Cheque Dishonour Without Active Business Role  ||  Supreme Court: Asking a Woman to Adjust in Marriage Does Not Amount to Cruelty By In-Laws    

G.R. Builders Vs. Metro Speciality Hospitals Pvt. Ltd. and Ors. - (High Court of Delhi) (26 Sep 2023)

Once the seat of arbitration is fixed, the same would be in the nature of an exclusive jurisdiction clause binding the parties to a specific court

MANU/DE/6566/2023

Arbitration

By way of present petition filed under Section 11(6) and (8) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Arbitration Act), the Petitioner seeks appointment of an independent and impartial arbitrator as well as declaration to the effect that the Respondent's nomination and appointment of the arbitrator is contrary to the procedure stipulated in the Letter of Intent executed between the parties.

The parties have taken competing stands as to the place of the execution of the LOI. While Petitioner claims that it signed the instrument at Delhi, Respondent contends that, the instrument was signed in Faridabad. Admittedly, the Respondent as well as the project is located in Faridabad.

Section 2(1)(e) of the Arbitration Act defines 'Court'. An application under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration Act must be filed before a High Court which exercises superintendence/supervisory jurisdiction over a Court within the meaning of Section2(1)(e) of the Arbitration Act. Supreme Court in Ravi Ranjan Developers Pvt. Ltd. v. Aditya Kumar Chatterjee observed that both the aforesaid provisions have to be read harmoniously to determine the jurisdiction.

In Bharat Aluminium Company v. Kaiser Aluminium Technical Services Inc., it was held that once the seat of arbitration is fixed, the same would be in the nature of an exclusive jurisdiction clause binding the parties to a specific court which alone could exercise supervisory power over the arbitration.

In view of the settled law, the accrual of cause of action at a place for pursuing a substantive legal action is not a consideration for determining jurisdiction for the purposes of Section 11. Location of seat of arbitration is what will be a relevant consideration. In the present case, as per clause 31.16, the place of arbitration is Faridabad (Haryana), which would be the chosen as the seat, since seat has not been separately named and there are no other contrary indicia to show that the place of arbitration was not intended to be the seat of arbitration. Present court lacks territorial jurisdiction to entertain the present petitions. The other contentions raised by the parties need not be gone into. Petitions dismissed.

Tags : APPOINTMENT   ARBITRATION   JURISDICTION  

Share :        

Disclaimer | Copyright 2026 - All Rights Reserved