Civil Procedure applies to section 34 arbitration proceedings before Civil Court, including power to dismiss for default.

Proceedings under section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 are instituted before a Civil Court, and the Code of Civil Procedure applies unless the statute expressly or by necessary implication excludes it. Section 19 excludes the Code only from proceedings before the arbitral tribunal, not from court proceedings under section 34. A bar on second appeal under section 37(3) does not remove the Civil Court's incidental procedural powers, including the power to dismiss for default. The result is that ordinary civil procedure governs section 34 proceedings before the Civil Court, including dismissal for non-appearance.

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Issues: Whether the Civil Procedure Code applies to proceedings before the Civil Court under section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and whether the Civil Court has jurisdiction to dismiss such proceedings for default.

Analysis: The Court held that a proceeding under section 34 is instituted before a Civil Court, not before an arbitral tribunal, and that the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 contains no express exclusion of the Code of Civil Procedure in respect of such court proceedings. Section 19 excludes the Code only from proceedings before the arbitral tribunal. The Court followed the Supreme Court's interpretation that where a special statute does not expressly or by necessary implication bar the ordinary procedural law, the Code applies to proceedings before the Civil Court. It further noted that the bar under section 37(3) is directed only against a second appeal and does not eliminate other procedural powers of the Civil Court.

Conclusion: The Civil Procedure Code applies to proceedings before the Civil Court under section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and the Civil Court has jurisdiction to pass an order of dismissal for default in such proceedings.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered in favour of applying ordinary civil procedure to section 34 proceedings before the Civil Court, and the revision was directed to be placed before the learned Single Judge for disposal on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: Proceedings before the Civil Court under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 are governed by the ordinary procedural law unless the statute expressly or by necessary implication excludes it; a bar on second appeal does not by itself exclude the Code of Civil Procedure or the Civil Court's incidental procedural powers.

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