The Supreme Court in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. v. Nortel Networks India Private Limited[1] held that in the absence of a statutory provision prescribing a time period for filing an application for appointment of an arbitrator, the residual provision of the Limitation Act, i.e. Section 137 will apply. Pursuant to Section 137, the period of limitation to file an application for appointment of arbitrator will be three years from the date of refusal to appoint the arbitrator or the expiry of 30 days from the date of such request, whichever is earlier. The Court further held that in rare and exceptional cases, where the claims are ex facie time-barred, and it is manifest that there is no subsisting dispute, the Court may refuse to make the reference.
[1] Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. v. Nortel Networks India Pvt. Ltd., 2021 SCC Online SC 207.