The court reaffirmed that disputes arising from contractual agreements, including claims of breach, are arbitrable and emphasized the limited scope of judicial review under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.

JUDGMENT

Prateek Jalan, J. (Oral)--By way of this petition under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ["the Act"], the petitioner seeks appointment of an arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties under the "Faculty Agreement" dated 08.09.2021 ["the Agreement"]. By way of the said Agreement, the respondent was appointed as a member of faculty of the petitioner's institution which offers online and offline classes to students.

2. Notice of the petition was issued on 27.05.2022. Mr. Lakshay Joshi, learned counsel, has entered appearance on behalf of the respondent. Although the respondent has failed to file a reply to the petition pursuant to the liberty granted by the order dated 27.05.2022, Mr. Joshi sought to resist the petition on the grounds discussed in detail later in this judgment.

3. Mr. Murari Tiwari, learned counsel for the petitioner, submits that the respondent was appointed to the faculty of the petitionerinstitute at a salary of approximately Rs.2.50 lakhs per month with effect from 08.09.2021. He draws my attention to clause 1.4 of the aforesaid Agreement under which the respondent undertook not to leave the employment of the petitioner for a period of two and a half years [the initial tenure of the Agreement] i.e. until 08.03.2024, except if his emoluments were not paid for a period of three months. The Agreement also includes provisions with regard to Intellectual Property Rights [Section 4], Confidentiality [Section 5] as well as Non-Compete and Non-Solicitation provisions [Section 6].

4. Mr. Tiwari also draws my attention to clause 11 of the Agreement, which contains an arbitration clause in the following terms:

"11. ARBITRATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

11.1 In case of any dispute or difference between the "FIRST PARTY/Company/Employer" and the "SECOND PARTY/Faculty/Employee" regarding payment or nonpayment of any claim (s), tenure of services, transfer of "Faculty's, termination of services, compensation and any other dispute arising out of or relating to the contract/agreement whether arising during the services or thereafter shall be referred to the sole arbitrator being Director, Business and Legal Affairs of "Company". If the arbitrator to whom the matter is originally referred to is unable to perform his duties or refused to act for any reason whatsoever, the "Company" as aforesaid at the time of such inability to act, shall appoint any other person to act as an arbitrator in accordance with the terms and conditions of this agreement. Such person shall be entitled to proceed with the reference from the stage at which it was left by his predecessor, if both the parties consent to this effect, failing which the newly appointed Arbitrator will be entitled to proceed Dinovo.

The proceedings shall be conducted at New Delhi subject to the provisions of Arbitration & Conciliation Act 1996 and the courts at Delhi only shall have jurisdiction over the matter.

11.2 The "Faculty" has read and understood the terms & conditions of the agreement from clause here and above 1 to 10 and has received a copy of the same. The "Faculty" hereby undertakes to abide by the Salary Terms offered by the "Company" & the conditions as given in the agreement, which has been clearly read and understood by him and has agreed to abide by the same."¹

5. According to the petitioner, the respondent resigned from the services of the company in December, 2021, and also commenced a rival business. The petitioner, through counsel, addressed a legal notice dated 29.12.2021 to the respondent. In the legal notice, the petitioner h