First Court where a party to an Arbitration Agreement files an application under Part-I of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 must be a Court of competent jurisdiction and the petition must be validly/properly constituted – Liberty Footwear Company Vs. Liberty Shoes Ltd. – Delhi High Court
September 21, 2023
Hon’ble High Court held that:
(i) Once an application has been filed under Part-I comprising of Sections 1 to 43 of the 1996 Act in a Court, that Court alone will have jurisdiction over the arbitral proceedings and all subsequent applications arising out of the Agreement and Section 42 will bar the parties from approaching any other Court in respect of disputes arising from the said Arbitration Agreement.
(ii) The first Court where a party to an Arbitration Agreement files an application under Part-I of the 1996 Act must be a Court of competent jurisdiction and the petition must be validly/properly constituted.
(iii) If a frivolous application is filed and opined to be so and the application is dismissed by the first Court as an abuse of the process of law, it would require to be held that though de facto a petition was first made in the said Court, but de jure none would be required to be treated as having been made.
