The right to apply for arbitration accrues when a dispute arises, and the petitioner must establish steps taken for seeking arbitration within the limitation period.

1. The present petition is filed by the petitioner under Section 11 read with Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (in short the Act), praying inter alia for appointment of the named Arbitrator as referred to in the Reference Deed dated 30.4.1991, to adjudicate the disputes between the parties.

2. Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that the dispute, subject matter of the present petition, is between the petitioner, son of late Sh. Baldev Raj Sehgal and the respondent no. 1, his brother. Respondents no. 2 and 3 are the sisters of the petitioner and the respondent no. 1. Late Sh. Baldev Raj Sehgal, father of the parties, purchased a residential premises on 31.8.1963, bearing plot no. 33, Ashoka Park Extn., East Punjabi Bagh, Rohtak Road, Delhi, measuring 155.8 sq. yds.

3. The father of the parties expired on 17.2.1974, leaving behind the petitioner, the respondents and their mother, late Smt. Padma Sehgal as the legal heirs. It is the case of the petitioner that the plot in question was a vacant piece of land, on which construction was carried out by the contribution of all the legal heirs of the deceased. During the lifetime of the mother, all the parties executed an Agreement dated 30.4.1991, duly witnessed by the respondents no. 2 and 3 and a Reference Deed of the same date, duly executed by the petitioner and the respondent no. 1, to which their mother and the respondents no. 2 and 3 were the witnesses. The present petition is based on the Reference Deed dated 30.4.1991.

.4. In the Reference Deed, it was recorded that the property in question was purchased by the father of the parties, i.e. late Sh. Baldev Raj Sehgal and the respondent no. 1 being a government servant, wanted to take loan from the Government, hence all

.the legal heirs of the deceased executed a relinquishment deed in favour of respondent no. 1. However, as the petitioner claimed that he had equally spent on the super-structure of the aforesaid property and wanted to partition the property being a joint owner, certain disputes and differences arose between the petitioner and the respondent no. 1 regarding the aforesaid property and other family affairs.

5. It was agreed by the parties that to settle their disputes amicably and avoid litigation, an Arbitrator should be appointed. Accordingly, in the Reference Deed dated 30.4.1991, one Sh. Jagat Bir Vohra was appointed as a sole Arbitrator to decide all the disputes regarding the property No. 33, Ashoka Park, Extn., East Punjabi Bagh, Rohtak Road, Delhi, between the petitioner and the respondent no. 1 and give an award within three months or within such time as may be mutually extended by both the parties.

6. The present petition has been filed by the petitioner on 04.6.2005, seeking directions for appointment of the named Arbitrator as contained in the Reference Deed, for adjudicating the disputes between the parties, which disputes, counsel for the petitioner states are still pending.

7. The present petition is mainly assailed by the counsel for the respondent no. 1 on the ground that the petition is barred by limitation and is therefore liable to be rejected. A perusal of the para 19 of the petition shows that, as per the petitioner, the cause of action had arisen in favour of the petitioner when the Agreement dated 30.4.1991 was executed at Delhi and the respondent no. 1 started harassing the petitioner after the death of their mother and did not take any steps to partition the property. Thereafter, the cause of action is stated to have arisen on 20.1.2005, when the petitioner served a legal notice upon the respondent no.1 to settle the matter amicably or to refer the disputes to the named Arbitrator within 30 days from the date of receiving the legal notice.

8. Counsel for the petitioner states that the cause of action has to be examined in the light of the fact that the disputes may have arisen on 30.4.1991 when the Agreement and Reference Deed were exe