Waiver of arbitration rights bars a later Section 8 reference when a party first uses arbitration and takes an inconsistent stand.

Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 requires an arbitration agreement, a court action on a covered dispute, and a timely application before the first statement on the substance of the dispute. Even where those formal conditions were treated as met, a party that earlier refused arbitration and asserted that the dispute was not arbitrable could not later compel reference to arbitration after the other side had sued. The court applied the principles of waiver, estoppel, and approbation and reprobation to bar reliance on the abandoned contractual remedy, and upheld rejection of the Section 8 application.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to a reference to arbitration under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 despite having earlier taken the stand that the dispute was not arbitrable and refused the respondent's request for arbitration.

Analysis: Section 8 requires the existence of an arbitration agreement, commencement of an action in court on a matter covered by that agreement, and an application for reference before the first statement on the substance of the dispute. Those conditions were treated as satisfied on the facts. However, the decisive factor was the petitioner's earlier conduct. After refusing the respondent's offer to refer the dispute to arbitration and asserting that the dispute was not arbitrable, the petitioner could not later invoke the same contractual remedy when the respondent had already resorted to suit. The principle against approbation and reprobation, coupled with waiver and estoppel, barred the petitioner from reclaiming the abandoned right to arbitration.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not entitled to a reference to arbitration under Section 8, and the rejection of the application was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: A party that has knowingly waived the right to arbitration and induced the opposite party to pursue civil proceedings cannot later compel a reference under Section 8 by turning around and taking an inconsistent stand.

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