ELP Arbitration Weekly Update

This week we have analyzed the decision of the Delhi High Court in Ok Play Auto Pvt. Ltd. v. Indian Commerce & Industries Co. Pvt. Ltd., wherein the Court was called upon to decide the following issues:

a. which arbitration clause constituted a binding arbitration agreement between the parties and
b. whether the Delhi HC had territorial jurisdiction to appoint an arbitrator.

The court found that while parties had agreed to resolve their disputes through arbitration, they had failed to agree upon the mechanism for appointment of arbitrator and the seat of arbitration. Having found that the parties had failed to agree upon a seat, in order to determine which court had jurisdiction to appoint an arbitrator, the Delhi High Court placed reliance on the definition of ‘Court’ under section 2(e) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and upheld its jurisdiction to appoint an arbitrator.