Exclusive jurisdiction under arbitration law applies only when the first application is made in a reference, not on a section 34 stay request.

Section 31(4) of the Arbitration Act, 1940 confers exclusive jurisdiction only when the first application under the Act is made in a reference to a court competent to entertain it. An application under section 34 for stay of a suit is only ancillary to enforcing the arbitration agreement and is not itself an application in the reference or part of the arbitral proceedings. Applications under sections 8 and 20, by contrast, are made to bring about a reference. Accordingly, a section 34 stay application does not trigger exclusive jurisdiction under section 31(4), and the Delhi court remained competent to entertain the section 20 application.

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Issues: Whether an application under section 34 of the Arbitration Act, 1940 for stay of a suit is an application made "in a reference" within section 31(4), and whether the Delhi court had jurisdiction to entertain the application under section 20.

Analysis: Section 31(4) confers exclusive jurisdiction only when an application under the Act is made in a reference to a court competent to entertain it. Applications under sections 8 and 20 are anterior to the reference but are made in connection with bringing about a reference. An application under section 34 is different in character: it is only a request to stay judicial proceedings already commenced in breach of the arbitration agreement, and it does not itself belong to the reference or the arbitral proceedings. The fact that the judicial authority before which the stay is sought may entertain the application does not mean that it becomes the court of exclusive jurisdiction for all subsequent arbitration applications.

Conclusion: An application under section 34 is not an application in a reference within section 31(4), and the Delhi court was competent to entertain the section 20 application.

Ratio Decidendi: For section 31(4) to operate, the first application under the Arbitration Act must be made in a reference; a section 34 stay application, being merely ancillary to enforcement of the arbitration agreement and not part of the reference itself, does not attract exclusive jurisdiction.

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