The Supreme Court has held that a Division Bench exercising writ appellate jurisdiction under Article 226 cannot issue directions that circumscribe an Arbitral Tribunal's authority under Section 16 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 to rule on its own jurisdiction, including the arbitrability of disputes classified as "excepted matters" under a works contract. The Court clarified that the question whether a claim falls within an excepted-matters clause is a matter of kompetenz-kompetenz committed to the Tribunal in the first instance, and a writ court - whose engagement with merits was declined on grounds of complicated factual questions - lacks the jurisdiction to prescribe the manner of adjudication.
Case Details
MS GVV CONSTRUCTIONS PVT LTD MANAGING DIRECTOR vs THE UNION OF INDIA
2026 INSC 976
Court
Supreme Court of India
Date
2026-09-08
Case Number
C.A. No.-012525-012525 - 2026
Bench
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PAMIDIGHANTAM SRI NARASIMHA, HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ALOK ARADHE
Counsel
Pet: Gaurav Agarwal
Res: Vikramjit Banerjee
Frequently Asked Questions
The referral court is confined to a prima facie examination of the existence of an arbitration agreement and cannot enter into contested or laborious enquiries on arbitrability, limitation, or excepted matters, which are reserved for the Arbitral Tribunal under Section 16.
No. A writ court, especially one that declined to adjudicate merits due to complicated factual questions, has no jurisdiction to prescribe the manner of adjudication or constrain the Tribunal's Section 16 authority to rule on its own jurisdiction over excepted matters.
Clause 63 of the GCC excludes excepted matters from arbitration but does not oust the jurisdiction of civil courts, whereas the clause in ABS Marine Services prohibited both court jurisdiction and arbitration proceedings entirely.
The governing maxim is "when in doubt, do refer." A court should decline reference only where it is manifestly and ex facie certain that the arbitration agreement is non-existent, invalid, or the dispute is non-arbitrable.
