Arbitration appeal route controls maintainability of challenge to NCLT reference order under the Companies Act.

An appeal under Section 421 of the Companies Act, 2013 was not maintainable against an order passed by NCLT while acting as a judicial authority under Section 45 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The applicable appeal route depended on the statute under which the order was made, and Section 50 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act provides the confined appellate mechanism for refusal to refer parties to arbitration under Section 45. The Companies Act appeal remedy is limited to orders made by the Tribunal in its company-law jurisdiction, so the challenge could not be entertained in that forum.

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Issues: (i) Whether an appeal under Section 421 of the Companies Act, 2013 was maintainable against an order passed by the National Company Law Tribunal acting as a judicial authority under Section 45 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

Analysis: The order impugned before the Appellate Tribunal was not one passed by the Tribunal in exercise of its ordinary company-law jurisdiction under the Companies Act, 2013, but was passed when the Tribunal acted as a judicial authority under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 while considering a request to refer the parties to arbitration. The forum of appeal therefore had to be determined by the statute under which the order was made. Section 50 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 provides the appeal mechanism for orders refusing reference to arbitration under Section 45, and the right of appeal is confined to that statutory scheme. The appellate remedy under Section 421 of the Companies Act, 2013 is available only against orders passed by the Tribunal under that Act in its capacity as a tribunal.

Conclusion: The appeal under Section 421 of the Companies Act, 2013 was not maintainable, and the challenge to the order under Section 45 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 could not be entertained in this forum.

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