JUDGMENT

R.C.LAHOT, J.

(1) LEAVE granted.

(2) THE respondents have filed a suit seeking relief of permanent injunction and for rendition of accounts. Therein the appellants filed an application under section 8 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter the Act for short) seeking a direction referring the parties to arbitration on the ground that there existed between the parties an arbitration agreement according to which the disputes raised by the respondents before the court were not available for adjudication except by being referred for arbitration. It was submitted that there was a technology transfer agreement (TTA) dated 20th May, 1995 which contained an arbitration clause and by reference to the letter dated 5th May, 1998 written by the appellant no. 1 to the respondents, the same agreement became applicable to the parties. The application under section 8 of the Act was rejected by the learned judge of Delhi High Court (original side). The defendants in the suit have filed this appeal by special leave.

(3) DURING the course of hearing it was pointed out by the learned counsel for the respondents that the arbitration agreeme