When can arbitration agreement be said to be in writing

[2010] 98 CLA (Snr.) 2 (Bom.)

Nasir Husain Films (P.) Ltd.

v.

Saregama India Ltd. and another

Appeal No. 457 of 2007 in Arbitration Petition No. 81 of 2007

Decided by the High Court of Bombay

F I Rebello & R S Mohite,  JJ

7th April 2008

[2010] 2 Comp LJ 393 (Bom.)

Section 7 Arbitration agreement When can arbitration agreement be said to be in writing When agreement cannot be said to have come into existence It is settled law that to constitute an arbitration agreement in writing it is not necessary that it should be signed by the parties and it is sufficient if the terms are reduced to writing and the agreement of parties thereto is established. It is also settled law that from the correspondence it must unequivocally and clearly emerge that the parties were at ad idem as to the terms. Otherwise it cannot be said that an agreement has come into existence between the parties through correspondence.

Section 9 Interim relief by court Nature of jurisdiction of court While considering an application under section 9, the court has jurisdiction to decide whether there is an arbitration clause as also whether dispute raised by the party falls within the scope of arbitration clause. The issue of existence of an arbitration clause as also the issue as to whether the subject-matter is covered by the arbitration clause will have to be decided as an issue when such issue arises before a court considering the application under section 9.