Reference to Arbitration Requires Independent Application, Cannot be Inferred from Plea to Reject Plaint: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court recently rejected a Master's summons application filed by M/s Samman Capital Limited, that sought stay of a commercial suit on the grounds of an existing arbitration clause.Master's summons under the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) refers to a court order (summons) compelling a party to appear, often to provide documents or information relevant to an insolvency proceeding or specific case issues.The Court emphasised that for a dispute to be referred to arbitration, the law...

Commercial Courts Cannot Hear Non-Commercial Arbitration Disputes Without Specified Claim Value: MP High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has clarified that arbitration challenges arising from non-commercial disputes with no determinable monetary value cannot be heard by Commercial Courts, even if such courts function at the level of a Civil Judge (Senior Division). The court clarified that the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 applies only when two conditions are met, the dispute must be commercial in nature and must have a specified value as defined under the law. Justice Vivek Jain said that where...