In Brief
In a partnership dispute where one partner alleged fraud and fund siphoning and lodged an FIR, the appellant sought court appointment of an arbitrator under the partnership deed's arbitration clause. The High Court rejected the appointment, deeming the fraud allegations too serious and complex for arbitration. The Supreme Court reversed this, holding that simple fraud allegations touching only internal partnership affairs, without vitiating the arbitration clause itself, do not exclude disputes from arbitration. The court distinguished between serious allegations requiring court intervention and simple allegations fit for arbitration, and appointed a retired judge as sole arbitrator to resolve the disputes."
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