The Delhi High Court in the present case held that service through email or WhatsApp was sufficient for invocation of Arbitration in case of a valid agreement and hence referred the disputes between the parties to arbitration as per the arbitration agreement.
The facts of the present case are such that the Petitioners and the Respondents entered into a lease agreement which contained an arbitration clause stating that adjudication of disputes by reference to arbitration to be conducted at New Delhi in accordance with the Rules of Delhi International Arbitration Centre. Under the same clause, Courts in New Delhi have also been vested with exclusive jurisdiction under the Agreement. As disputes arose between the parties, the Petitioner invoked the arbitration clause and issued notice dated 31.12.2022 to the Respondents nominating Arbitrators to adjudicate the dispute, to which there was no response. Subsequently, the Petitioners filed the present application under S.11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 for the appointment of Arbitrator. The Hon’ble Court vide order dated 12.01.2024 permitted service by email and WhatsApp at the addresses and phone numbers mentioned in the Agreement, following which the Petitioner filed an affidavit of service dated 22.02.2024 which demonstrated that email and WhatsApp service was completed on 20.02.2024. Furthermore, the Hon’ble Court passed an order permitting service through RPAD and Speed Post on 06.03.2024 on address mentioned in the memo of parties, to which the Ld. Joint Registrar recorded in the order dated 04.04.2024 that valid service has not been effected by these means in view of the Speed Post tracking report.
The Hon’ble Court, after looking at the facts of the matter took into consideration that service by Speed Post was attempted however in the report, it stated that no such person was available at the address. However, the Hon’ble Court correctly arrived at the conclusion that the arbitration agreement was valid and service upon the respondents has been duly effected by email and WhatsApp which is sufficient, hence the court appropriately allowed the petition and referred the disputes to arbitration.