Prima facie referral review in arbitration leaves non-signatory joinder disputes to the tribunal.

At the Section 11 stage, the referral court's role is limited to a prima facie check on the existence of an arbitration agreement, and it should not decide contested questions about a non-signatory's participation or composite transaction issues. Those matters fall within the arbitral tribunal's competence-competence jurisdiction under Section 16, where the contractual matrix and surrounding circumstances can be examined after hearing the parties. Applying that approach, the petition for appointment of an arbitrator was allowed, and objections concerning the non-signatory respondent were left open for determination by the tribunal.

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Issues: Whether the petition for appointment of an arbitrator deserved to be allowed, and whether the question of impleadment of the non-signatory respondent should be decided at the referral stage or left to the arbitral tribunal.

Analysis: The referral court's role under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is confined to a prima facie examination of the existence of an arbitration agreement. The record disclosed no dispute denying the existence of the arbitration clause invoked by the petitioner. The objections raised by the respondents, including those relating to the non-signatory respondent and the composite nature of the transaction, raised contested questions of fact and law that fall within the arbitral tribunal's jurisdiction under the principle of competence-competence. In a matter involving joinder of a non-signatory, the proper course is to leave the question to the tribunal, which can assess the contractual matrix, correspondence, and surrounding circumstances after giving the parties an opportunity to be heard.

Conclusion: The petition was maintainable and was allowed. The appointment of an arbitrator was warranted, while all objections concerning the participation of the non-signatory respondent were left open for determination by the arbitral tribunal.

Ratio Decidendi: At the Section 11 stage, the Court must confine itself to a prima facie inquiry into the existence of an arbitration agreement and should leave contested questions, including whether a non-signatory is bound by the agreement, to the arbitral tribunal under Section 16.

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