Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 – s.8 – Cancellation ofwritten instrument u/s.31, 1963 Act – Arbitrability of – Agreementbetween appellant and respondent no.2 to develop a portion of theland owned by appellant – Respondent no.2 assigned the executionthereof to respondent no.1 vide another agreement containingarbitration clause – This was followed by a deed of confirmation –Appellant filed suit, alleging fraud by respondent no.3 (representinghimself to be authorized partner of respondent no.1), inter alia fordeclaring the aforesaid agreements to be null and void – Relyingon the arbitration clause, respondent no.1 filed application u/s.8for referring the parties to arbitration – Allowed – Writ petitionfiled by appellant – Dismissed – On appeal, held: Post amendment,judicial authority before which an action is brought shall, if theother conditions of s.8 are met, refer the parties to arbitration unlessit finds that prima facie, no valid arbitration agreement exists – Inthe present case, a valid arbitration agreement exists as theagreements that are sought to be cancelled are not stated not tohave ever been entered into – Also, the suit is inter parties with no“public overtones”, thus the “fraud exception” would not apply inthe present case – Further, action u/s.31(1) is strictly an action interparties or by persons who obtained derivative title from the parties,and is thus in personam – Judgments of the District Court and theHigh Court need no interference – Specific Relief Act, 1963 –ss.26(1), (3), 27(1), (2)(c), 29, 30, 31(1), (2), 32-35 – Arbitrationand Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 – Contract Act, 1872 –s.17 – Arbitration Act, 1940 – s.20.Specific Relief Act, 1963 – s.31 – Proceedings under, in remor in personam – Discussed – Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996.