Rensar Infra Private Limited vs Rais Kasam Shaikh

Headnote AI-drafted · Reviewed and approved

The Applicant, a real estate developer, filed an application under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 before the Bombay High Court seeking appointment of a Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate disputes arising out of an Agreement for Sale dated 31 December 2020 in respect of Flat No. 1901, entered into between the Applicant, Respondent No. 3, and Respondent Nos. 1 and 2. The disputes had their genesis in events occurring in 2021 and subsequently led to proceedings before MahaRERA, culminating in an order against the Applicant dated 14 August 2024, a rejected review application, and a pending appeal before the Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal.

The Applicant contended that at the stage of Section 11 proceedings, the Court is confined to a prima facie examination of the existence of an arbitration agreement, and that issues of limitation, accord and satisfaction, and arbitrability on merits are matters exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Arbitral Tribunal under Section 16 of the Act, relying on SBI General Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Krish Spinning, 2024 INSC 532. The Applicant further distinguished the precedent in Rashmi Realty Builders Pvt. Ltd. v. Rahul Pagariya, 2024 SCC OnLine Bom 3871, arguing that the question of whether RERA remedies exclude arbitration is distinct from whether prior recourse to RERA bars arbitration of independent contractual disputes.

The Respondents raised objections based on the interplay between the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 and arbitration, contending that the availability and exercise of remedies under RERA had a bearing on the maintainability of the arbitration application. The judgment addresses the scope of judicial inquiry at the Section 11 stage and the relationship between RERA and arbitration agreements in real estate disputes.

Catchwords: Arbitration · appointment of arbitrator · Section 11 Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 · prima facie examination · arbitration agreement · RERA · MahaRERA · real estate dispute · arbitrability · limitation · Section 18 RERA · accord and satisfaction · Section 16 arbitral tribunal jurisdiction · Agreement for Sale · Bombay High Court