High Court’s Power U/S 11 A & C Act Is Limited To Determining Prima Facie Existence Of Arbitration Agreement; Cannot Address Disputed Facts: Telangana HC
The Telangana High Court observed that the scope of High Court’s power under Section 11 of the Arbitration Act is limited to determining prima facie existence of arbitration agreement and it cannot address disputed questions of facts.
The Court was hearing an Arbitration Application filed under Section 11 (5) and (6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 for the appointment of a sole arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties.
The bench of Justice K. Lakshman observed, “scope of power of High Court under Section 11 of the Act, 1996 is extremely limited. The Court has to only see whether prima facie an arbitration agreement exists. The Court cannot go into disputed questions of facts which are to be decided by the arbitrator.”
Advocate G.M. Mohiuddin, appeared for the Applicant and Advocate G Rama Manjuna appeared for the Respondent.
Brief Facts-
The applicant Syeda Sana Sumera and respondent Kamran Mirza entered into a registered agreement of Sale-cum-Irrevocable General Power of Attorney for the sale of land in Hyderabad. The respondents failed to fulfil their obligations under the agreement, issued false notices, and published misleading information. The applicants invoked the arbitration clause and issued a legal notice, requesting the respondents to select an arbitrator within 30 days. The respondents denied the agreement's validity and did not appoint an arbitrator.
After going through the facts and arguments the Court said that there are disputes between the applicants and respondents which are arbitrable in nature.
The Court mentioned the decision in Duro Felguera, S.A. v. Gangavaram Port Ltd and quoted, “the courts need to see is whether an arbitration agreement exists nothing more, nothing less. The legislative policy and purpose is essentially to minimise the Court's intervention at the stage of appointing the arbitrator…”
The Court noted that there is no dispute between the parties regarding the Arbitration Clause contained in the subject agreement. Therefore, according to the Court, it is appropriate to refer the dispute to arbitration.
Accordingly, the Court appointed Justice A. Rajashekher Reddy, Former Judge of the High Court for the State of Telangana, Hyderabad, as the sole arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties.
Cause Title: Syeda Sana Sumera v. Kamran Mirza
