Punjab & Haryana High Court: Civil Suit for Property Partition Cannot Override Arbitration Agreement

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has held that a civil suit seeking partition, separate possession, and rendition of accounts cannot proceed when the parties have entered into an arbitration agreement covering division of property.

In the case before a Single Judge Bench of Lapita Banerji, J., the court found that the reliefs sought in the civil suit extended beyond the subject-matter of the arbitration agreement. The court noted that an arbitrator would be unable to consider the interests of other parties entitled in equity and law.

The petitioner and his two brothers had signed an arbitration agreement on 5 July 1999 concerning division of their father's assets. After arbitral proceedings were terminated in 2018 due to unpaid fees, the respondents filed a civil suit. The High Court upheld the dismissal of the petition challenging the lower court's rejection of the civil suit.