The Supreme Court of India (SC) vide its judgment dated 12.05.2023 in the case of Magic Eye Developers Pvt. Ltd. v. M/s. Green Edge Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. & Ors. Etc. 2023 SCC OnLine SC 620 held that the Referral Court exercising jurisdiction under section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Arbitration Act), rather than leaving it open for the Arbitral Tribunal to decide the existence and validity of the arbitration agreement, must make a conclusive decision on the same.
The Division Bench of the SC, in this ruling noted that if the Referral Court leaves it open for the Arbitral Tribunal to decide on existence and validity of the arbitration agreement, the same will result into lack in “exercise of power” by the Referral Court and will be contrary to section 11(6A) of the Arbitration Act.
