The Supreme Court of India (‘SCI’) on 31.10.2022 in a batch of seven appeals arising out of different High Courts held that reference made to the Facilitation Council is maintainable in spite of an independent arbitration agreement existing between the parties to whom the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 [“MSMED Act”] is applicable. Further, it was significantly held that the provisions of Chapter-V of the MSMED Act have an effect overriding the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 [“the Arbitration Act”].
