Contractual arbitrator appointment right ends once Section 11(6) court proceedings begin; belated appointment is without jurisdiction.

Under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, a party's contractual power to appoint a sole arbitrator continues only until the other side approaches the court for appointment. Once the Section 11(6) application was filed, the respondent's right to make a belated appointment ceased, and a later appointment could not revive an exhausted contractual power. The High Court's appointment was therefore sustainable, and the attempted post-petition appointment was without jurisdiction.

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Issues: Whether the respondent's right under the arbitration clause to appoint an arbitrator survived after the filing of an application under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and whether the High Court's appointment of an arbitrator could be interfered with.

Analysis: The contract permitted appointment of a sole arbitrator by the designated authority, but the appellant did not act within the stipulated period after receiving the request for appointment. Once the respondent invoked Section 11(6) and moved the High Court for appointment of an arbitrator, the appellant's contractual right to make a belated appointment ceased. The later appointment made after the Section 11(6) petition had already been filed could not revive that lost power. The facts were distinguished from decisions where appointment was considered before the court was approached, and the reliance on Section 11(8) was found unhelpful in the circumstances.

Conclusion: The appellant had no jurisdiction to appoint an arbitrator after the filing of the Section 11(6) petition, and the High Court's appointment was sustainable.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed because the contractual power of appointment stood exhausted once the Section 11(6) proceedings were initiated, leaving no basis to set aside the arbitral appointment.

Ratio Decidendi: In a case governed by Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, the opposite party's contractual right to appoint an arbitrator continues only until the other party approaches the court for appointment; a belated appointment thereafter is without jurisdiction.

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