Arbitration clause in a lease deed can compel referral even without a separate Section 8 application, despite stamp or registration objections.

An arbitration clause in a lease deed was treated as wide enough to cover disputes arising from the lease, including mesne profits after possession had been delivered. The existence of the arbitration agreement could still be examined for the collateral purpose of referral even if the lease deed was otherwise said to be unstamped or unregistered. Section 8 was not defeated merely because no separate formal application was filed, where the arbitration agreement was brought to the trial court's notice at the first available opportunity. The approach reflected the policy of minimal judicial intervention and required referral of the covered dispute to the named sole arbitrator.

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Issues: Whether the civil court was bound to refer the dispute to arbitration under the arbitration clause, notwithstanding the absence of a separate application under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and the objection that the lease deed was unstamped and unregistered.

Analysis: The arbitration clause in the lease deed was wide enough to cover disputes arising out of the lease, including the surviving controversy regarding mesne profits after delivery of possession. The existence of an arbitration agreement could be examined even if the lease deed was otherwise not enforceable as a lease, since it could still be relied upon for that collateral purpose. The mandate of Section 8 was not defeated merely because no separate application or specific prayer had been made, where the existence of the arbitration agreement had been brought to the trial court's notice at the first available opportunity. The policy reflected in Section 5 also favoured minimal judicial intervention where the dispute was covered by arbitration.

Conclusion: The dispute was required to be referred to the named sole arbitrator. The finding that the suit was not maintainable could not stand by itself, and the order was modified to direct reference of the remaining dispute to arbitration, in favour of the appellant to that extent.

Ratio Decidendi: A court must give effect to a valid arbitration agreement and refer the covered dispute to arbitration under Section 8 when the agreement is invoked at the first available opportunity, even if no separate formal application is made, and an otherwise imperfect lease deed may still be relied on to establish the collateral fact of arbitration.

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