EMAAR MGF Land Limited: Where Did The Supreme Court Go Wrong?

 The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, in Emaar MGF Land Limited v. Aftaab Singh¹ (Emaar), has laid down that notwithstanding the amendments of 2015, the existence of arbitration clause will be no bar to the jurisdiction of consumer forum. The said judgment deals with the dispute concerning the buyer's agreement. The complainant (who is the respondent in the Emaar case) filed the complaint before the consumer forum alleging the deficiency in service by Emaar as it didn't deliver the possession of the agreed villa. The said agreement contained the arbitral clause for settlement of dispute between the parties. It is pertinent to note that in the year 2015 to restrict the power of the court in determining the scope of enquiry into the arbitration references, the legislature introduced the following amendment in Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Act):