Insight Direct India Pvt. Ltd. through Its Authorised Representative Vs Capitalgram Marketing and Technology Pvt. Ltd. through All the Directors

The present petition has been filed under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the Act), seeking appointment of an Arbitrator, to adjudicate upon the disputes that have arisen between the parties.

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The service affidavit has been placed on record by the petitioner. However, there is appearance on behalf of the respondent. The affidavit of service is extracted as under:

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“ 1. That I am the Counsel for the Petitioner in the captioned matter and am conversant with the facts of the present case and thus competent to depose herein.

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2. That I have served the complete set of titled petition along with the Court Notice through speed post and courier both dated 24.09.2025

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Signed By:PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KA URAV

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Signed By:AMIT KUMAR SHARMA Signing Date :31. 10.2025 14:04:06

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having tracking Nos. SU002215809IN and DEL203710298 which were delivered on 27.09.2025 and 29.09.2025 respectively to the registered address of the respondent. The receipts as well as the tracking/ reports are annexed herewith as Annexure – A (Colly.).

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3. That I have also served the notice through official email Id - [email protected] on 09.10.2025 at 02:53 PM. The said email has been delivered. Copy of the printout of the email dated09.10.2025 is enclosed herewith.

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-sd-

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DEPONENT ”

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The facts of the case indicate that the petitioner and the respondent entered into a Master Service Agreement (MSA) on 13.10.2021. Pursuant to the said agreement, the petitioner was engaged to develop the Capitalgram Cloud Platform Buildout vide Statement of Work dated 11.04.2022. A Purchase Order dated 24.05.2022, valued at Rs.4,54,30,000/-, was issued by the respondent in this regard.

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As per the case set up by the petitioner, the respondent failed to release the 25% advance payment as well as other due payments. It is contended that despite repeated reminders, the respondent did not make the necessary payments. Consequently, the petitioner terminated the MSA on 28.10.2022, claiming an outstanding amount of Rs.1,87,17,474/- along with applicable interest.

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Thereafter, a legal notice dated 12.05.2023 was issued to the respondent demanding the aforesaid amount. Upon receiving no response, another notice dated 20.05.2023 was sent invoking the arbitration clause contained in the MSA. The respondent, however, rejected the proposal by its communication dated 07.06.2023. Hence, the petitioner has approached this Court by way of the present petition.

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Upon perusal of the MSA, it appears that an arbitration clause exists, i.e., Clause 13.10, which provides for the appointment of an arbitrator. The

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Signed By:AMIT KUMAR SHARMA Signing Date :31. 10.2025 14:04:06

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Signed By:PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KA URAV

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said clause is reproduced below:

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“ 13.16 Dispute Resolution: Any dispute(s) arising out of this MSA shall, as far as possible, be settled amicably between the parties hereto failing which the following shall apply-Any dispute under this MSA shall be referred to arbitration by a Sole Arbitrator to be appointed by the Hanu. The arbitration proceedings shall be held in New Delhi in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 or any statutory re-enactment or modification thereof for the time being in force. The parties agree that the Arbitration Award shall be final and may be enforced as a decree. The parties further agree to keep the arbitration proceedings and arbitral award confidential. If either party employs attorneys to enforce any rights arising out of or relating to this agreement, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover reasonable costs and attorney's fees. This arbitration clause does not affect the ability of the parties to seek non-monetary equitable relief before courts with competent jurisdiction .”

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The law with respect to the scope and standard of judicial scrutiny under Section 11(6) of the Act has been fairly well settled. This Court in Pradhaan Air Express Pvt Ltd v. Air Works India Engineering Pvt Ltd¹ , has extensively dealt with the scope of interference at the stage of Section 11. Furthermore, this Court,in Axis Finance Limited Vs. Mr. Agam Ishwar Trimbak² has held that the scope of inquiry under Section 11 of the Act is been limited to a prima facie examination of the existence of an arbitration agreement. Further, it was also reiterated that the Objections relating to the arbitrability of disputes are not to be entertained by a referral Court acting under Section 8 or 11 of the Act. The relevant extract of the aforesaid decision reads as under: -

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19.In In Re: Interplay , the Supreme Court confined the analysis under Section 11 of the Act to the existence of an arbitration agreement and under Section 8 of the Act to the existence and validity of an arbitration agreement. Under both the provisions, examination was to be made at the touchstone of Section 7 of the Act. Further, issues pertaining to the

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Signed By:AMIT KUMAR SHARMA Signing Date :31. 10.2025 14:04:06

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Signed By:PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KA URAV

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arbitrability of the dispute fell outside the scope of both Section 11(6A) and Section 8 of the Act. The material part of the judgement of the Supreme Court in In Re: Interplay reads as under:

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164. The 2015 Amendment Act has laid down different parameters for judicial review under Section 8 and Section 11. Where Section 8 requires the referral Court to look into the prima facie existence of a valid arbitration agreement. Section 11 confines the Court’s jurisdiction to the examination of the existence of an arbitration agreement. Although the object and purpose behind both Sections 8 and 11 is to compel parties to abide by their contractual understanding, the scope of power of the referral Courts under the said provisions is intended to be different. The same is also evident from the fact that Section 37 of the Arbitration Act allows an appeal from the order of an arbitral tribunal refusing to refer the parties to arbitration under Section 8, but not from Section 11. Thus, the 2015 Amendment Act has legislatively overruled the dictum of Patel Engineering (supra) where it was held that Section 8 and Section 11 are complementary in nature. Accordingly, the two provisions cannot be read as laying down a similar standard. 165. The legislature confined the scope of reference under Section 11(6A) to the examination of the existence of an arbitration agreement. The use of the term ―examination‖ in itself connotes that the scope of the power is limited to a prima facie determination. Since the Arbitration Act is a self-contained code, the requirement of ―existence‖ of an arbitration agreement draws effect from Section 7 of the Arbitration Act. In Duro Felguera (supra), this Court held that the referral Courts only need to consider one aspect to determine the existence of an arbitration agreement – whether the underlying contract contains an arbitration agreement which provides for arbitration pertaining to the disputes which have arisen between the parties to the agreement. Therefore, the scope of examination under Section 11(6A) should be confined to the existence of an arbitration agreement on the basis of Section 7Similarly, the validity of an arbitration agreement, in view of Section 7, should be restricted to the requirement of formal validity such as the requirement that the agreement be in writing. This interpretation also gives true effect to the doctrine of competence-competence by leaving the issue of substantive existence and validity of an arbitration agreement to be decided by arbitral tribunal under Section 16. We accordingly clarify the position of law laid down in Vidya Drolia (supra) in the context of Section 8 and Section 11 of the Arbitration Act. 166. The burden of proving the existence of arbitration

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Signed By:AMIT KUMAR SHARMA Signing Date :31. 10.2025 14:04:06

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Signed By:PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KA URAV

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agreement generally lies on the party seeking to rely on such agreement. In jurisdictions such as India, which accept the doctrine of competencecompetence, only prima facie proof of the existence of an arbitration agreement must be adduced before the referral Court. The referral Court is not the appropriate forum to conduct a minitrial by allowing the parties to adduce the evidence in regard to the existence or validity of an arbitration agreement. The determination of the existence and validity of an arbitration agreement on the basis of evidence ought to be left to the arbitral tribunal. This position of law can also be gauged from the plain language of the statute. 167. Section 11(6A) uses the expression ―examination of the existence of an arbitration agreement.‖ The purport of using the word ―examination‖ connotes that the legislature intends that the referral Court has to inspect or scrutinize the dealings between the parties for the existence of an arbitration agreement. Moreover, the expression ―examination‖ does not connote or imply a laborious or contested inquiry. On the other hand, Section 16 provides that the arbitral tribunal can ―rule‖ on its jurisdiction, including the existence and validity of an arbitration agreement. A ―ruling‖ connotes adjudication of disputes after admitting evidence from the parties. Therefore, it is evident that the referral Court is only required to examine the existence of arbitration agreements, whereas the arbitral tribunal ought to rule on its jurisdiction, including the issues pertaining to the existence and validity of an arbitration agreement. A similar view was adopted by this Court in Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd. v. Aksh Optifibre Ltd.‖ [Emphasis supplied]

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20. The effect of In Re: Interplay was further explained by a Three Judge Bench of the Supreme Court in SBI General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Krish Spinning³ wherein the Court declared Vidya Drolia and NTPC Ltd.’s findings qua scope of inquiry under Section 8 and Section 11 of the Act to no longer be compatible with modern principles of arbitration. The material portions of the judgement read as under:

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―114. In view of the observations made by this Court in In Re : Interplay (supra), it is clear that the scope of enquiry at the stage of appointment of arbitrator is limited to the scrutiny of prima facie existence of the arbitration agreement, and nothing else. For this reason, we find it difficult to hold that the observations made in Vidya Drolia (supra) and adopted in NTPC v. SPML (supra) that the jurisdiction of the referral Court when dealing with the issue of ―accord and satisfaction‖ under Section 11

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Signed By:AMIT KUMAR SHARMA Signing Date :31. 10.2025 14:04:06

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Signed By:PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KA URAV

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extends to weeding out ex-facie non-arbitrable and frivolous disputes would continue to apply despite the subsequent decision in In Re : Interplay (supra). … 118. Tests like the ―eye of the needle‖ and ―ex-facie meritless‖, although try to minimise the extent of judicial interference, yet they require the referral Court to examine contested facts and appreciate prima facie evidence (however limited the scope of enquiry may be) and thus are not in conformity with the principles of modern arbitration which place arbitral autonomy and judicial non-interference on the highest pedestal.‖ [Emphasis supplied]

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21. Similarly, in BGM and M-RPL-JMCT (JV) v. Eastern Coalfields Ltd⁴ the Supreme Court succinctly explained the effect of In Re: Interplay on a Referral Court’s powers under Section 11 of the Act. The relevant part of the judgement is as under:

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15. …

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(a) Section 11 confines the Court's jurisdiction to the examination regarding the existence of an arbitration agreement.

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(b) The use of the term ―examination‖ in itself connotes that the scope of the power is limited to a prima facie determination.

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(c) Referral Courts only need to consider one aspect to determine the existence of an arbitration agreement — whether the underlying contract contains an arbitration agreement which provides for arbitration pertaining to the disputes which have arisen between the parties to the agreement. Therefore, the scope of examination under Section 11(6-A) should be confined to the existence of an arbitration agreement on the basis of Section 7. Such a legal approach will help the Referral Court in weeding out prima facie non-existent arbitration agreements.

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(d) The purport of using the word ―examination‖ connotes that the legislature intends that the Referral Court has to inspect or scrutinise the dealings between the parties for the existence of an arbitration agreement. However, the expression ―examination‖ does not connote or imply a laborious or contested inquiry.

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(e) The burden of proving the existence of arbitration agreement generally lies on the party seeking to rely on such agreement. Only prima facie proof of the existence of an arbitration agreement must be adduced before the Referral Court. The Referral Court is not the appropriate forum to conduct a minitrial by allowing the parties to adduce the evidence in regard to the existence or validity of an arbitration agreement. The

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Signed By:PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KA URAV

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Signed By:AMIT KUMAR SHARMA Signing Date :31. 10.2025 14:04:06

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determination of the existence and validity of an arbitration agreement on the basis of evidence ought to be left to the Arbitral Tribunal.

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(f) Section 16 provides that the Arbitral Tribunal can ―rule‖ on its jurisdiction, including the existence and validity of an arbitration agreement. A ―ruling‖ connotes adjudication of disputes after admitting evidence from the parties. Therefore, when the Referral Court renders a prima facie opinion, neither the Arbitral Tribunal, nor the Court enforcing the arbitral award is bound by such a prima facie view. If a prima facie view as to the existence of an arbitration agreement is taken by the Referral Court, it still allows the Arbitral Tribunal to examine the issue in depth.

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[Emphasis supplied]

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22. Thus from the above-mentioned authorities it is clear that a Court’s scope of inquiry under Section 11 of the Act has been limited to a prima facie examination of the existence of an arbitration agreement while the adjudication under Section 8 is to be made for both existence and validity. Further, the examination so undertaken under both the said provisions must be within the confines of Section 7 of the Act. Objections relating to arbitrability of disputes are not to be entertained by a referral Court acting under Section 8 or 11 of the Act.‖

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It is, thus, seen that a dispute has arisen between the parties and there exists an arbitration clause, therefore, there is no impediment in appointing the Arbitrator.

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In view of the fact that disputes have arisen between the parties and there is an arbitration clause in the contract, this Court appoints Mr. Amandeep Joshi, Advocate (Mobile No. +91 9818065100, e-mail id: [email protected] ) as the sole Arbitrator.

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The arbitration would take place under the aegis of the Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) and would abide by its rules and regulations. The learned Arbitrator shall be entitled to fees as per the Schedule of Fees maintained by the DIAC.

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Signed By:AMIT KUMAR SHARMA Signing Date :31. 10.2025 14:04:06

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Signed By:PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KA URAV

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The learned arbitrator is also requested to file the requisite disclosure under Section 12 (2) of the Act within a week of entering on reference.

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All rights and contentions of the parties in relation to the claims/counter-claims are kept open, to be decided by the Sole Arbitrator on their merits, in accordance with law.

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Needless to say, nothing in this order shall be construed as an expression of opinion of this Court on the merits of the controversy between the parties. Let the copy of the said order be sent to the Sole Arbitrator through the electronic mode as well.

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