In Brief
The Supreme Court considered whether a High Court can reject an application to appoint a sole arbitrator under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act based on a limitation objection. The Court held that Section 11(6A) restricts the High Court to examining only whether an arbitration agreement exists. All other preliminary issues, including limitation, fall within the arbitrator's jurisdiction under Section 16 (the Kompetenz-Kompetenz principle). The Court set aside the High Court's judgment, directing the arbitrator to decide the limitation issue, with Singrauli as the seat of arbitration and costs shared equally between the parties.
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