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16. Competence of arbitral tribunal to rule on its jurisdiction--
(1) The arbitral tribunal may rule on its own jurisdiction, including ruling on any objections with respect to the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement, and for that purpose--
(a) an arbitration clause which forms part of a contract shall be treated as an agreement independent of the other terms of the contract; and
(b) a decision by the arbitral tribunal that the contract is null and void shall not entail ipso jure the invalidity of the arbitration clause.

41. Insofar as the third type of agreements, namely agreements which are void ab initio are concerned, the ability of the arbitration clause to survive the whole contract is doubtful. Suppose an agreement is entered into between a person in India and a foreigner, whereby the foreigner agrees to supply arms and ammunition to the Indian citizen who holds no licence for such import, such an agreement would be hit by Section 23 of the Contract Act. This agreement would be void ab initio and hence the arbitration clause contained in such an agreement cannot certainly survive the main agreement. To hold otherwise, would tantamount to permitting an arbitration into the rights and liabilities of the parties to the agreement out of which, no such rights and liabilities, ever flowed nor could ever flow. Therefore, if an agreement is void ab initio, the arbitration clause contained in such an agreement would not be a life boat in a sinking ship but a lifeless boat in a ship which never commenced its voyage.