In Brief
The Supreme Court held that when appointing an arbitrator under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, courts must only verify the existence of an arbitration agreement between the parties. If an arbitration agreement exists, the court cannot exclude certain claims by declaring them non-arbitrable. Instead, the court must appoint an arbitrator and allow the parties to raise non-arbitrability pleas before the arbitral tribunal itself, which has the authority to decide such matters. The Court overturned a Delhi High Court order that had excluded certain claims at the appointment stage.
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