The court affirmed the right to court fee refunds upon referral to arbitration, emphasizing that such a referral entitles plaintiffs to refunds irrespective of arbitration outcomes.

ORDER :

M. Nagaprasanna, J.

The petitioners are before this Court seeking to set aside the order dated 06-06-2025 passed by the concerned Court in review petitions filed seeking to modify the order dated 05-09- 2024 passed on the I.A.No.1/2024 in the original suit seeking to refer the dispute to arbitration.

2. The petitioners, in all these cases, are plaintiffs. They institute 4 different original suits. During the subsistence of the said suits, in terms of the agreement, which contained an arbitration clause, defendant No.1 files an application before the concerned Court to refer the matter for arbitration under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘Act’ for short). The matter is referred to, in terms of an order dated 05-09-2024. The order reads as follows:

“…. …. ….

27. Point No.2: For the foregoing reasons, I proceed to pass the following:

ORDER

I.A. No. 1/2024 filed by the Defendant No.1 U/Sec. 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 , is hereby Allowed.

In the consequences, the Plaintiff is directed to approach the appropriate authority to get referred his dispute to the Arbitrator under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 .

Under such circumstances, this Court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain and try this suit.

The suit of the Plaintiff is dismissed, as the same is not maintainable.”

The order is similar in all the cases. Therefore, it need not be again noticed.

3. After the reference of the matter for arbitration in terms of the aforesaid order, the petitioners file review petitions before the concerned Court, seeking modification of the order insofar as the Court fee that was paid in each of the cases. The total Court fee paid in all the 4 cases is as follows:

The concerned Court rejects the review petition, rejection of which has driven the petitioners to this Court in the subject petition.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioners Sri P.B.Raju submits that once the matter is referred to arbitration under Section 8 , refund of court fee is axiomatic. He would seek to place reliance upon Section 8 9 of the CPC and Section 16 of the Court fees Act.

5. The issue now would be, whether the petitioner would be entitled to refund of Court fee on the score of the matter being referred to arbitration, answering an application under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996. The issue need not detain this Court for long or delve deep into the matter. Jurisprudence is replete with several Courts considering the issue. Since the application is filed under Section 8 of the Act and the order is passed transferring the case to the arbitrator in terms of Section 8 , it becomes necessary to notice Section 8 and all other provisions which deal with refund of Court fee with different enactments. Section 8 reads as follows:

“8. Power to refer parties to arbitration where there is an arbitration agreement.—(1) A judicial authority, before which an action is brought in a matter which is the subject of an arbitration agreement shall, if a party to the arbitration agreement or any person claiming through or under him, so applies not later than the date of submitting his first statement on the substance of the dispute, then, notwithstanding any judgment, decree or order of the Supreme Court or any court, refer the parties to arbitration unless it finds that prima facie no valid arbitration agreement exists.

(2) The application referred to in sub-section (1) shall not be entertained unless it is accompanied by the original arbitration agreement or a duly certified copy thereof.

Provided that where the original arbitration agreement or a certified copy thereof is not available with the party applying for reference to arbitration under sub- section (1), and the said agreement or certified copy is retained by the other party to t