Where a civil suit is pending in a court in respect of a matter which is the subject of an ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, an application is made by a party before the judicial authority. Under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 the judicial authority shall:

Section 8 of the Act requires a judicial authority before which an action is brought in a matter covered by a valid arbitration agreement to REFER the parties to arbitration if a party applies, not later than when submitting his first statement on the substance of the dispute. The application for referral underlines the pro-arbitration policy of the Act: the court's role is limited and deferential to the arbitration agreement. Such an application can be made even after the suit is pending before the framing of issues. A valid, operative arbitration agreement is thus a jurisdictional bar to civil adjudication.