Section 11 arbitration referral depends on a live claim and existing agreement; disputed facts go to the tribunal.

At the Section 11 stage under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, the Court held that reference to arbitration may be refused only where the claim is demonstrably dead, time-barred, or outside the arbitration agreement. Because a subsisting arbitration clause existed and the parties' rival assertions on breach, continuing rights, and alleged extinction of the claim raised factual disputes, the matter was held fit for arbitration. Jurisdictional and validity objections were treated as issues for the arbitral tribunal under Section 16. The petition was therefore maintained, the dispute was referred to arbitration, and a sole arbitrator was appointed.

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Issues: Whether the petition under Section 11(5) and Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 deserved allowance for appointment of an arbitrator, or whether the dispute had become a dead claim outside the arbitration agreement.

Analysis: The Court applied the settled principle that, at the stage of appointment of an arbitrator, it must be satisfied that an arbitration agreement exists and that the claim is not plainly dead, barred by time, or otherwise concluded. It noted that the parties had a subsisting arbitration clause, and that the rival assertions regarding breach, continued rights under the agreements, and whether the petitioner's claim had been extinguished raised factual controversies requiring evidence. The Court also treated the respondent's objections on jurisdiction and validity as matters that could be examined by the arbitral tribunal under Section 16 of the Act.

Conclusion: The petition was maintainable and the dispute was referable to arbitration; the request for appointment of an arbitrator was allowed.

Final Conclusion: The Court directed reference of the disputes to arbitration and appointed a sole arbitrator to adjudicate the claims.

Ratio Decidendi: At the stage of Section 11 appointment, the Court may refuse reference only where the claim is demonstrably dead, barred, or outside the arbitration agreement; disputed factual issues and jurisdictional objections should ordinarily be left to the arbitral tribunal.

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