The requirement of making of an application under Sec. 8(1) of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 seeking reference of the disputes between the parties to arbitration is more a requirement of form than of substance – Madhu Sudan Sharma & Ors. Vs. Omaxe Ltd. – Delhi High Court
Hon’ble High Court held that:
(i) The requirement of making of an application seeking reference of the disputes between the parties to arbitration, as engrafted in Section 8(1) of the 1996 Act, is more a requirement of form than of substance. What matters is whether there is, in fact, an arbitration agreement between the parties, which is valid and subsisting.
(ii) The absence of any formal request for referring the dispute to arbitration makes no difference. An objection, predicated on Section 8 of the 1996 Act, in the light the existence of the arbitration agreement, ipso facto denudes the Court of its power to continue with the suit. It is rendered coram non judice. All future acts by the Court, in continuing to entertain the suit are, therefore, rendered ipso facto without jurisdiction.
(iii) An objection, predicated on the arbitration clause, was specifically raised by the appellants, firstly in the application under Order XXXVII Rule 3(5) for grant of leave to defend the suit and, consequent to grant of leave, in the written statement.