19 August 2021 | Ramesh Kumar Agarwal v. Naresh Kumar Agarwal and another | FAO 748 of 2021 | Suneet Kumar J | 2021 SCC OnLine All 541

Upholding the order of the commercial court that rejected an application under Section 9 ACA, Suneet Kumar J explained the scope of Section 9 (3) ACA.

Section 9 (3) provides that “once the arbitral tribunal has been constituted, the Court shall not entertain an application … unless circumstances exist which may not render the remedy [before the arbitral tribunal] efficacious.”

Kumar J ruled that it is not easy to define the “circumstances”; they have to be pleaded. He also noted that Section 9 (3) ACA uses “entertain”, so instituting an application was not barred. Still, the court could refuse to entertain it in the absence of those circumstances that would make the remedy before the tribunal not efficacious.

Read the judgment here.