Jurisdiction of Court

The court having jurisdiction on arbitration proceedings is the court which will have jurisdiction to decide questions arising with reference to the subject matter of the reference if the same had been the subject matter of a suit.

The award has to be filed in that court and all applications regarding the conduct of arbitration proceedings and all questions regarding validity or existence of award of arbitration agreement will be decided by that Court. Thus one court will be the forum to decide all matters connected with the arbitration agreement and award.

The court will have jurisdiction even if a contract is entered into outside its jurisdiction, if some matter or if the subject matter of the reference or agreement is within its jurisdiction or if the goods are examined within its jurisdiction.

If the award is regarding immovable property situated outside the jurisdiction of the court or if the immovable property is situated outside India, the court will have no jurisdiction.

Section 2(1)(f) defines 'court' in terms of the principal civil court of original jurisdiction in a district including High Court exercising original jurisdiction.

The jurisdiction of the Court under the new Law is thus confined to District Court or (where the High Court has ordinary original jurisdiction) to the High Court. No inferior Court shall have jurisdiction in matters arising under the new law. It is further to be noted that (as is evident from sections 5, 8 and 34 of the new law) the extent of judicial intervention with arbitration proceedings or arbitral award has been reduced to the minimum.