The applicant brought an application under s. 17(8) of the Arbitration Act, 1991 to set aside an arbitral tribunal's preliminary ruling that it had jurisdiction to decide a dispute between the parties.
The dispute arose from emergency repair work performed by the applicant at the respondent's power plant, which allegedly caused $10 million in damages.
The respondent initiated arbitration based on a 2009 'Purchase Order General Terms and Conditions' document signed by the applicant.
The court conducted a hearing de novo and found that the 2009 document was an inchoate agreement that was never incorporated into the 2018 purchase order for the repair work.
Applying the objective theory of contract formation, the court concluded there was no consensus ad idem regarding an arbitration agreement.
The arbitral tribunal's decision was set aside for lack of jurisdiction.