#arbitration reference

Kerala High Court holds that under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, courts must refer disputes to arbitration upon a prima facie showing of an arbitration agreement, leaving substantive validity challenges to the arbitral tribunal. This reinforces the kompetenz-kompetenz principle, limiting judicial interference at the referral stage.

The Bombay High Court has ruled that a party may file a fresh Section 11 application for arbitration of damages claims not previously decided, even if an appeal against the set-aside award is pending. This clarifies that setting aside an award nullifies its binding effect, allowing parties to pursue unaddressed heads of claim without being barred by pendency of appellate proceedings. Practitioners and developers must now treat set-aside awards as legally vacated for unadjudicated relief.

Bombay High Court rules that statutory arbitration under Section 11 of the SARFAESI Act can proceed between a financial institution and a bank over loan transfer disputes, even if the institution has not yet acquired secured creditor status. The judgment clarifies that arbitration is permissible despite the absence of a formal security interest, impacting loan takeover transactions and dispute resolution mechanisms in banking.