Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996:ss. 8 and 11 – Jurisdiction under – Judicial review – Scopeand ambit of – Held: Per Sanjiv Khanna, J. – Scope of judicialreview and jurisdiction of the Court u/s. 8 and 11 is identical, butextremely limited and restricted – The court may interfere at thestage of jurisdiction u/ss. 8 and 11, when it is manifestly and exfacie certain that the arbitration agreement is non-existent, invalidor the disputes are non-arbitrable – The court can not interfereand refer the matter for arbitration when contentions relating tonon-arbitrability are plainly arguable; when consideration insummary proceedings would be insufficient and inconclusive; whenfacts are contested; and when the party opposing arbitration adoptsdelaying tactics or impairs conduct of arbitration proceedings –This is not the stage for the court to enter into a mini trial or elaboratereview so as to usurp the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal – Atthis stage the court is required to affirm and uphold integrity andefficacy of arbitration as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism– Per Ramana, J. – Sections 8 and 11 have the same ambit i.e.limited judicial interference at reference stage – Usually subjectmatter arbitrability cannot be decided at the stage of ss. 8 and 11,unless it’s a clear case of deadwood – Unless a party has establisheda prima facie case of non-existence of valid arbitration agreement,the court has to refer the matter for arbitration or to appoint anarbitrator as the case may be i.e. ‘when in doubt, do refer’ – Thescope of the court to examine the prima facie validity of an arbitrationagreement includes only (i) whether arbitration agreement was inwriting; (ii) whether such agreement was contained in exchange ofletters, telecommunication etc. (iii) whether the core contractualingredients qua arbitration agreement were fulfilled; and (iv) onrare occasions, whether the subject-matter of dispute is arbitrable.Arbitration:Landlord-tenant dispute – Governed by Transfer of PropertyAct – Arbitrability of – Held: In order to determine whether thesubject-matter of a dispute in an arbitration agreement is notarbitrable, the four-fold test is when cause of action and subjectmatter of dispute (i) relates to action in rem that do not pertain tosubordinate rights in personam that arise from rights in rem; (ii)affects third party rights, have erga omnes effect, require centralizedadjudication and mutual adjudication would not be appropriateand enforceable; (iii) relates to inalienable sovereign and publicinterest functions of the State and hence mutual adjudication wouldbe unenforceable;(iv) expressly or by necessary implication non-arbitrable as per mandatory statutes – However, these tests are notwatertight compartments – Landlord-tenant disputes governed byTransfer of Property Act are arbitrable as per the testsaforementioned – However, such disputes, if covered by rent controllegislation giving exclusive jurisdiction to specific court or forum,would not arbitrable – Transfer of Property Act, 1882.Deeds and Documents:Arbitration agreement – Interpretation of – Held: The approachas to interpretation of arbitration agreement would depend uponvarious factors such as language, parties, nature of relationship,factual background in which the agreement was entered, etc. – Incase of pure commercial disputes, more appropriate principle ofinterpretation would be the one of liberal construction as there ispresumption in favour of one-stop adjudication.Doctrines/Principles:Principle of ‘separation’ and ‘competence-competence’ –Applicability of – Discussed.Doctrine of ‘election’ – Applicability of.‘Second look’ principle – Applicability of.Judgment:Judgment in rem and judgment in personam – Distinctionbetween – Discussed.Words and Phrases:‘Agreement’ – Meaning of.‘Arbitration agreement’ – Meaning of.‘Legal relationship’ – Meaning of.‘Arbitration agreement in writing’ – Meaning of.‘Existence’ – Meaning of.‘Examination’ – Meaning of.‘Existence of an arbitration agreement’ – Meaning of.‘Arbitrability’ – Meaning of.‘Prima facie’ – Meaning of.