https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=256483 A court is not bound to refer a dispute to arbitration merely because an arbitration clause exists; it may first examine whether a valid and operative arbitration agreement is actually in force. Section 16 does not prevent that preliminary inquiry. On the agreement's construction, the stipulated escrow deposit was an integral condition precedent to the arbitration mechanism, linked to the wider transaction and the no-objection certificate arrangement. Because the deposit had not been made, the arbitration clause did not become operative and the dispute could not be referred to arbitration. The petitions therefore failed and the orders below were sustained with costs. en-us Mon, 04 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 15:08:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=256483 A court is not bound to refer a dispute to arbitration merely because an arbitration clause exists; it may first examine whether a valid and operative arbitration agreement is actually in force. Section 16 does not prevent that preliminary inquiry. On the agreement's construction, the stipulated escrow deposit was an integral condition precedent to the arbitration mechanism, linked to the wider transaction and the no-objection certificate arrangement. Because the deposit had not been made, the arbitration clause did not become operative and the dispute could not be referred to arbitration. The petitions therefore failed and the orders below were sustained with costs. Case-Laws Indian Laws Mon, 04 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=256483