https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=256865 Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is peremptory: where a valid arbitration agreement exists and the application is filed before the first statement on the substance of the dispute, the civil court must refer the parties to arbitration. The court cannot refuse reference by examining the merits of the suit, retaining general civil jurisdiction, or bifurcating the cause of action, because such splitting is not contemplated by the Act and would undermine speedy dispute resolution and risk conflicting decisions. The Court also held that the availability of interim or injunctive relief does not justify retaining the suit. The contrary orders were set aside and the matter remitted for fresh consideration of the Section 8 application. en-us Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0530 Sat, 06 Jan 2018 15:56:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=256865 Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is peremptory: where a valid arbitration agreement exists and the application is filed before the first statement on the substance of the dispute, the civil court must refer the parties to arbitration. The court cannot refuse reference by examining the merits of the suit, retaining general civil jurisdiction, or bifurcating the cause of action, because such splitting is not contemplated by the Act and would undermine speedy dispute resolution and risk conflicting decisions. The Court also held that the availability of interim or injunctive relief does not justify retaining the suit. The contrary orders were set aside and the matter remitted for fresh consideration of the Section 8 application. Case-Laws Indian Laws Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=256865