I. Introduction
Section 16 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
(
A&C Act ) has been framed in
accordance with Article 16 of the UNCITRAL Model law, which
embodies elemental jurisprudential doctrine
i.e.,
Kompetenze - Kompetenze . This doctrine
empowers the court or an arbitral tribunal to rule upon its own jurisdiction, brought forth by one of the parties to
the dispute. Section 16 (1) of the A&C Act states that an
arbitral tribunal may rule on its own jurisdiction, including
ruling on any objection with respect to the existence or validity
of the arbitration agreement.
However, Section 16 of A&C Act is silent on whether it is