Binding arbitration agreement absent under employment terms, so Section 11(6) jurisdiction could not be invoked.

A binding arbitration agreement was not shown, so jurisdiction under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 could not be invoked. The employment contract contained no arbitration clause and did not incorporate the employer's solutions programme into the terms of employment. The exclusive Bombay jurisdiction clause was inconsistent with the alleged arbitration arrangement. In any event, the programme referred to arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act and American Arbitration Association rules, indicating a foreign procedural framework rather than Part I of the 1996 Act. It also did not require compulsory submission to arbitration in the manner contemplated by Section 7, because it only offered an employee an option to seek arbitration and accept or reject the result.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner could invoke Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 on the basis of the employer's "solutions programme" as constituting a binding arbitration agreement.

Analysis: The employment contract did not contain any arbitration clause, nor did it incorporate the "solutions programme" as part of the petitioner's terms of employment. The clause conferring exclusive jurisdiction on courts in Bombay was inconsistent with the alleged existence of a binding arbitration agreement. Even on the assumption that the programme applied, its reference to arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act and the American Arbitration Association rules indicated a foreign procedural framework that excluded Part I of the 1996 Act on the applicable law at the relevant time. The programme also did not compel submission of disputes to arbitration in the manner required by Section 7 of the 1996 Act, because it merely gave an employee a choice to seek arbitration and to accept or reject the arbitral decision.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not entitled to invoke the Court's jurisdiction under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, as no binding arbitration agreement was shown.

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