32. In particular, reference may made in this context to N.N. Global Mercantile Private Limited vs. Indo Unique Flame Limited and others , reported at (2021) 4 SCC 379, a three-Judge Bench decision of the Supreme Court relied on by the petitioner, where it was specifically laid down that the ground, that allegations of fraud are not arbitrable, is a wholly archaic view, which has become obsolete and deserves to be discarded. However, it was held that the criminal aspect of fraud, forgery or fabrication, which would be visited with penal consequence and criminal sanction, can be adjudicated only by a court of law, since it may result in a conviction, which is in the realm of public law. The Supreme Court further held that all civil or commercial disputes, either contractual or non-contractual, which can be adjudicated upon by a civil court, in principle, can be adjudicated and resolved through arbitration, unless it is excluded, either expressly by statute or by necessary implication. The civil aspect of fraud, it was held, is to be arbitrable in contemporary arbitration jurisprudence, with the only exception being where the allegation is that the arbitration agreement itself is vitiated by fraud or fraudulent inducement, or the fraud pertains to the validity of the underlying contract and impeaches the arbitration clause itself.
