International arbitration jurisdiction: civil court may test validity of the arbitration agreement before reference, despite a connected award.

In international commercial arbitration, the court seized of a suit may first decide whether the arbitration agreement is valid, inoperative, or incapable of performance before any reference under Section 45 is made. That position is distinct from Section 8, which applies mandatorily in domestic arbitration only when the statutory conditions are met. The mere passing of an arbitral award in connected proceedings does not by itself oust the civil court's jurisdiction in a pending suit challenging the arbitration agreement as illegal, void, or inoperative. The jurisdictional objection was therefore not shown to be sustainable, and the order rejecting it was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the civil court's jurisdiction to proceed with the suit was ousted because an arbitral award had been passed and the defendants sought reference to arbitration under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

Analysis: The suit itself challenged the arbitration agreements as illegal, null and void, inoperative, or incapable of being performed. In a matter of international commercial arbitration, the court seized of the action retains jurisdiction to decide whether the arbitration agreement is valid, inoperative, or incapable of performance before any reference to arbitration can be made under Section 45. The position is distinct from Section 8, which operates mandatorily in domestic arbitration on a timely application and after the statutory requirements are satisfied. The mere passing of an award in connected arbitral proceedings did not, by itself, extinguish the civil court's jurisdiction in the pending suit, and the scope of the revision did not justify dismissal of the entire suit on the ground of lack of jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The civil court's jurisdiction was not shown to be ousted, and the order rejecting the defendants' jurisdictional objection was upheld. The revision was rejected.

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