TMI Blog2008 (12) TMI 680X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , 1996 (`the Act' for short), filed by the defendants in a money suit (filed by the first respondent herein against three defendants, that is, third respondent company, and its two directors namely, petitioner and second respondent), affirmed by the High Court, has led to the filing of this special leave petition. For convenience, we will refer to the parties by their rank in the suit. 2. There is a delay of 182 days in filing this petition. The only reason assigned by the petitioner, a seasoned businessman, to explain the delay is that he was confused by diverse opinions about filing of special leave petition. The explanation is neither satisfactory nor sufficient to condone the delay. Even assuming that the delay is condonable, we find ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ontaining an arbitration agreement within the meaning of Section 7 of the Act, as the invoices were signed only by `Yash Traders' and not by the plaintiff. The said decision has been affirmed by the High Court. 5. The petitioner has filed this special leave petition, contending that to constitute a valid arbitration agreement, a document containing the arbitration agreement need not be signed by all parties. According to the petitioner, if an invoice signed by the seller is acknowledged or accepted or acted upon by the buyer, a term in the invoice providing for arbitration will be an arbitration agreement as between the seller and the buyer, irrespective of whether the buyer signed the document or not. We do not propose to examine the s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h reference to some other transaction/contract to which plaintiff was or is a party, unconnected with the transactions or contracts to which a suit relates, cannot be considered as existence of an `arbitration agreement' in regard to the suit transactions/contracts. When sections 7 and 8 of the Act refer to the existence of an arbitration agreement between the parties, they necessarily refer to an arbitration agreement in regard to the current dispute between the parties or the subject matter of the suit. It is fundamental that a provision for arbitration, to constitute an arbitration agreement for the purposes of sections 7 and 8 of the Act, should satisfy two conditions. Firstly, it should be between the parties to the dispute. Secondly, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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