In Brief
An employer (APGENCO) awarded an engineering contract to a three-member consortium led by Tecpro Systems Ltd. During execution, Tecpro faced financial distress and lost leadership; later it entered insolvency. Tecpro then unilaterally invoked the arbitration clause seeking compensation. APGENCO argued that only the consortium collectively could invoke arbitration, not individual members. The High Court referred the dispute to arbitration. The Supreme Court upheld this, holding that courts need only verify the prima facie existence of an arbitration agreement when considering appointment applications. Detailed questions about consortium authority and entitlement must be decided by the arbitral tribunal under the competence-competence doctrine, not courts at the referral stage.
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