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16. However, the judgment relied upon is distinguishable as defendant filed written statement prior to moving the applications under section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act and has thus submitted to the jurisdiction of this court and waived its right to get dispute referred to the arbitration.

17. It is also pertinent to note that defendant did not take a plea in the WS that there was an arbitration agreement between the parties. Section 8 provides that the court shall to refer the parties to arbitration only if a party applies not later than when submitting his first statement on the substance of dispute. In this regard it has been held by Hon'ble High Court of Delhi in M/s. Engineers India Ltd. v. Zoom Developers Pvt. Ltd., CS (OS) 1201/2010 decided on 04.02.2013 as follows: