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DELHI HIGH COURT
ANUP JAIRAM BHAMBHANI
Virgo Softech Ltd. – Appellant
Versus
National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology – Respondent
JUDGMENT
Uanup Jairam Bhambhani, J. (Oral)
Arb. P. 802/2021
1. By way of the present petition under section 11 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act 1996 ('A&C Act' for short), the petitioner seeks appointment of an arbitrator to adjudicate upon the disputes that are stated to have arisen with the respondent from Contract dated 09.01.2012 (`contract' for short).
2. Notice on this petition was issued on 24.08.2021; consequent to which the respondent has filed its counter-affidavit dated 21.04.2022.
3. Ms. Sunanda Tulsyan, learned counsel for the petitioner has invited the attention of this court to clause 8.2 of the General Conditions of Contract (`GCCs' for short) annexed to the contract which comprises the arbitration agreement between the parties. Clause 8.2(a) contemplates reference of disputes between the parties to arbitration in accordance with the A&C Act; and clause 8.2(b) provides that arbitration proceedings shall be held in New Delhi.
4. At this point, it would be relevant to extract the relevant clauses of the contract, including the GCCs and the Special Conditions of Contract (`SCCs' for short), which read as follows:
General Conditions of Contract
"8. SETTLEME
The appointment of an arbitrator is valid under revised jurisdictional laws, superseding past dismissals on grounds of territorial limitations.
The seat of arbitration clause, fixing the seat of arbitration at New Delhi, resulted in courts at New Delhi being exclusively competent to entertain petitions under the 1996 Act, in exercise of its ....
The determination of the arbitration 'seat' and 'venue' is critical; if the 'venue' does not specify a 'seat', jurisdiction lies with the designated court under the arbitration agreement.
Point of Law : There was concurrent jurisdiction conferred on the courts ceased with subject matter in dispute and the courts where arbitration was carried out.
The choice of venue in an arbitration agreement can determine the seat of arbitration, and the amendments made to Section 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 in 2019 are applicable to p....
The seat of arbitration, once agreed upon, confers exclusive jurisdiction to the designated court, preventing the invocation of other jurisdictions.
The jurisdiction for appointing an arbitrator lies with the court where the principal agreement was executed, as per Section 11(6), despite a venue specified in an ancillary agreement.
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the designation of a place of arbitration as the 'venue' in an arbitration clause indicates the intention to anchor arbitral proceedings to th....
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