Dispute Resolution / Arbitration

Cairn Energy PLC (“Cairn Energy”) is one of Europe's leading independent oil and gas exploration and development companies and its dispute with the Indian government has recently been making headlines here in India as well as across the globe. ......

In the past, the Supreme Court has examined what would transpire in the event an arbitration agreement was not duly stamped. The Supreme Court, in the case of M/S Sms Tea Estates P.Ltd v. M/S Chandmari Tea Co. P.Ltd (“SMS Tea Estate Decision”), when examining an application under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”) held that, a court before admitting any contract into evidence or acting upon the contract, needs to examine whether the contract has been duly stamped. ......

On March 10, 2021, the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2021 ("Amendment Act") gained Parliamentary assent and is deemed to have come into force on November 04, 2020, thereby replacing the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 promulgated by the President of India on November 04, 2020, which we wrote on here. As elucidated upon in the statement of objects and reasons, the Amendment Act has sought to address the issue of corrupt practices in securing contracts or arbitral awards. ......

The law relating to the issue of injunction in civil suits is laid down in the Specific Relief Act, 1963 and the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. The grant of perpetual injunctions is regulated by the Specific Relief Act while grant of temporary or interlocutory injunctions, which are simply intended to preserve the status quo pending the decision, are regulated by the Code of Civil Procedure. ......

In over-ruling its own decision in the 2017 case of Himangni Enterprises v. Kamaljeet Singh Ahluwalia , the Supreme Court of India ("Court") has held in the recent case of Vidya Drolia v. Durga Trading Corporation that landlord-tenant disputes governed by the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 ("TP Act") are arbitrable as they are not actions in rem but pertain to subordinate rights in personam that arise from rights in rem. ......

On November 04, 2020, the President of India promulgated the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 (“Ordinance”). The Ordinance was promulgated to ensure that all parties get an opportunity to seek unconditional stay of enforcement of arbitral awards where the underlying arbitration agreement or contract or making of the arbitral award are induced by fraud or corruption. ......

In 2019 Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings (“Amazon”) had acquired a 49% stake in Future Coupons Limited (“Future Coupon”). As part of the transaction, Amazon was provided a ‘call’ option, which enabled it to exercise the option of acquiring all or part of Future Coupon’s promoter, Future Retail Limited’s (“Future Retail”) shareholding in the company (Future Coupon and Future Retail are hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Future Group”). ......

The scope of Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”) is very broad. The Section empowers the Court to grant various “interim measures of protection” including orders for securing the amount in dispute, preservation of property, interim injunctions and appointment of receivers. The Section also empowers the Court to grant such other interim measure of protection “as may appear to the court to be just and convenient”. ......

At this juncture, it is undeniably true that the novel coronavirus has caused the populace to collectively rethink the fundamental manner in which businesses conduct themselves, and the sustainability of the same in not only the current times, but in the future. A systemic change is being wrought about at the helm, with businesses being forced to find creative ways to reduce costs so as to enable them to stay afloat....