#prima facie arbitration agreement

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 Madhya Pradesh High Court ruled that under Section 11 of the Arbitration Act, courts must limit their inquiry to the prima facie existence of an arbitration agreement at the appointment stage. Substantive objections-such as forgery, lack of authority, or stamp duty deficiencies-are to be adjudicated by the arbitrator, not the court, streamlining the arbitration referral process for commercial disputes.