Arbitrator appointment request limitation runs from receipt of reference notice, making a delayed section 11 application time-barred.

An application for appointment of an arbitrator under section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act was treated as time-barred because limitation under article 137 of the Limitation Act runs from the date the request for reference to arbitration is received, read with sections 21 and 43 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. Subsequent reminders do not extend the limitation period. On the stated facts, the request was received in 1994 and the section 11 application was filed more than three years later, so the claim was beyond time and could not be entertained.

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Issues: Whether an application under section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 for appointment of an arbitrator was barred by limitation.

Analysis: The limitation issue was examined with reference to article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963, read with sections 21 and 43 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The right to apply was held to accrue when the request for reference to arbitration was received by the respondents, and not from subsequent reminders. As the claim request was received on 22-8-1994 and the section 11 application was filed on 20-1-1998, the application was beyond the three-year period prescribed by article 137. The authorities relied upon on limitation and accrual of the cause of arbitration supported the conclusion that the claim had become time-barred.

Conclusion: The application under section 11 was barred by limitation and could not be entertained.

Ratio Decidendi: For an application seeking appointment of an arbitrator, limitation runs from the date on which the request for reference to arbitration is received, and a section 11 application filed beyond three years from that date is barred under article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963.

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