https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=283958 Under the Arbitration Act, 1940, a general clause stating that disputes will be settled by arbitration does not by itself authorise one party to unilaterally appoint a sole arbitrator or unilaterally refer disputes. Where no arbitrator or appointment mechanism is specified, the appointment and reference must be made by consent, and if consent is absent the proper course is recourse to the Court under the Act. Consent is the foundation of jurisdiction in private arbitration; mere silence by the other side is not consent. An arbitrator acting on unilateral appointment and reference has no jurisdiction, so the proceedings and award are void ab initio and a nullity. en-us Tue, 02 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0530 Tue, 22 Oct 2019 12:46:50 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=283958 Under the Arbitration Act, 1940, a general clause stating that disputes will be settled by arbitration does not by itself authorise one party to unilaterally appoint a sole arbitrator or unilaterally refer disputes. Where no arbitrator or appointment mechanism is specified, the appointment and reference must be made by consent, and if consent is absent the proper course is recourse to the Court under the Act. Consent is the foundation of jurisdiction in private arbitration; mere silence by the other side is not consent. An arbitrator acting on unilateral appointment and reference has no jurisdiction, so the proceedings and award are void ab initio and a nullity. Case-Laws Indian Laws Tue, 02 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=283958