Binding court concession in arbitrator appointment bars later challenge to bypass the contractual appointment mechanism.

A party that consents in court to the appointment of an arbitrator under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 cannot later repudiate that concession and insist on the contractual appointment mechanism. The arbitration agreement contemplated appointment through the contract, but no appointment was secured within the stipulated time, and counsel did not object when the High Court named the arbitrator. The court treated the recorded concession as binding on the represented party, found no basis to say it was unauthorised, and held that the party had waived reliance on the contractual objection. The challenge to the appointment was therefore rejected.

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Issues: Whether the appointment of the arbitrator by the High Court, made on consent, could later be challenged on the ground that the contractual appointment procedure was not followed and that the concession recorded by the court was not binding.

Analysis: The arbitration agreement contemplated appointment through the contractual mechanism, but the parties had not secured an appointment within the stipulated time. In the proceedings under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, counsel for the appellants did not object to the appointment of a named arbitrator, and the High Court acted on that consent. A concession made by an advocate in court binds the party represented, unless a recognised exception applies. A party cannot, after allowing the matter to proceed on the basis of that concession, resile from it at a later stage. The record did not support the plea that the concession was unauthorised, and the appellants had in any event waived reliance on the contractual appointment objection.

Conclusion: The challenge to the appointment was not accepted, and the appellants were not permitted to withdraw from the consent recorded before the High Court.

Ratio Decidendi: A party that consents in court to the appointment of an arbitrator under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 cannot later repudiate that concession and invoke the contractual appointment mechanism, because a binding concession and waiver preclude resiling from the agreed course.

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