In Brief
A landlord and tenant entered into an agreement for reconstruction and sale of a shop with an arbitration clause for dispute resolution. When disputes arose, the tenant filed for appointment of a sole arbitrator under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. The High Court appointed an advocate arbitrator and recorded detailed findings on the merits. The Supreme Court held that courts cannot exceed their limited Section 11 jurisdiction by recording findings on merits; courts must only verify existence of an arbitration agreement and any dispute, then refer the matter to the arbitrator. The judgment was modified to appoint a retired judge instead and emphasized that the arbitrator must decide independently without reference to the High Court's observations."
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