Egg & Chicken Conundrum Between Limitation Period Under Section 11 Of Arbitration Act & Ex-Facie Time Barred Claims

INTRODUCTION

Period of Limitation has acquired the central stage in  legal discussions in relation to arbitration. The concept  of limitation period permeates the sphere of Arbitration  owing to Section 43 of the Arbitration & Conciliation  Act (the Act) which mandates the application of  Limitation Act to the arbitration proceedings. It is  pertinent to note that there lies a conceptual difference  between the concept of the limitation period to file an  application under section 8 of the Act and application  seeking appointment of arbitrator under section 11 of  the Act. Recently, the Supreme Court settled the law  pertaining to the starting point of limitation period  with respect to filing of applications under Section 11  of the Act, in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. vs M/s Nortel  Networks India Pvt. Ltd.¹