Arbitration termination dispute must be challenged under Section 14(2), not through a fresh Section 11 application.

Under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, a challenge to the legality of an arbitral tribunal's termination of proceedings after it concludes that continuation is impossible lies before the competent court under Section 14(2), because Section 32 ends the tribunal's mandate when proceedings are terminated. Section 11 is confined to appointment of arbitrators and is not the proper route to question such termination. The statutory scheme therefore separates appointment, mandate termination, and termination of proceedings, and disputes over the latter must be examined by the court empowered under the Act.

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Issues: Whether an application under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 was maintainable to challenge the arbitral tribunal's termination of proceedings and whether the aggrieved party's remedy lay before the appropriate court under Section 14(2).

Analysis: The dispute arose after the arbitral tribunal terminated the proceedings on the ground that continuation had become impossible. The statutory scheme distinguishes between appointment of arbitrators under Section 11, challenge to arbitrators and termination of mandate under Section 14, and termination of arbitral proceedings under Section 32. Where the tribunal terminates proceedings under Section 32(2)(c), Section 32(3) brings the mandate of the tribunal to an end, and any controversy about the legality of such termination is examinable by the court under Section 14(2). The expression "Court" in Section 2(1)(e) refers to the competent civil court or the High Court in the circumstances specified by the Act.

Conclusion: An application under Section 11 was not the proper remedy. The challenge to the termination of the arbitral proceedings and the resulting end of the tribunal's mandate had to be pursued before the appropriate court under Section 14(2).

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed because the statutory remedy lay before the competent court, not by way of a fresh Section 11 application.

Ratio Decidendi: When arbitral proceedings are terminated under Section 32, any dispute regarding the legality of the resulting termination of the arbitrator's mandate must be decided by the court under Section 14(2), and not through Section 11.

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