Foreign Awards (Recognition and Enforcement) Act, 1961

Smita Conductors Ltd. (appellant) and Euro Alloys Ltd. (respondent) entered into contracts for the supply of aluminium rods that contained an arbitration clause but were never signed by the appellant. The appellant opened irrevocable letters of credit and made shipments, but later invoked a force‑majeure clause after R…

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. entered into two contracts with Swiss firm Alimenta S.A. for groundnut supplies, but a government export ban prevented performance. The first contract contained an arbitration clause, leading Alimenta to invoke arbitration through FOSFA, while the…

The plaintiff (borrower) sued the suppliers, lenders and guarantor over a power‑plant project, invoking credit agreements that contained arbitration clauses. The lenders, particularly Svenska Handelsbanken (defendant No. 4), instructed their counsel not to appear or take any step in the main suit, limiting a power of a…

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) entered into a 1979‑80 groundnut export contract with Alimenta S.A. containing an arbitration clause and a contingency provision (Clause 14) that the contract would be cancelled if export was prohibited by the Government. Due to cyclone damage …

OPG Power Generation (the appellant) and its holding company Gita Power were sued by Enexio Power Cooling Solutions for unpaid amounts under supply and erection orders for an air‑cooled condenser unit. The arbitral tribunal held that Gita Power, as the holding company, was bound by the arbitration agreement and jointly…

Renusagar Power Co. entered into a contract with General Electric for the supply of equipment for a power plant, which later gave rise to disputes and an ICC arbitration. The arbitral tribunal awarded US$12,215,622.14, including regular interest, delinquent interest, compensatory damages, and costs. Renusagar challenge…

The Supreme Court examined whether a suit filed by Renusagar Power Co. Ltd. seeking a declaration that three claims (unpaid regular interest, delinquent interest, and compensatory damages) were beyond the scope of an arbitration clause could be stayed under Section 3 of the Foreign Awards (Recognition and Enforcement) …

The appellant and respondent No.1 formed an LLP governed by an agreement containing an arbitration clause (Clause 40). Disputes arose over the ITF project, and the appellant issued a Section 21 notice of arbitration only to respondent No.1 and filed a Section 11 application appointing an arbitrator, also only naming re…

Klockner & Co., a German firm, had a marketing agreement with Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) for exclusive marketing of charge chrome, containing an arbitration clause referring disputes to the ICC in London under Swiss law. After OMC's charge‑chrome division was taken over by the State of Orissa under Ordinance 8 of …

The Oil & Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) entered into a drilling contract with Western Company of North America that provided for arbitration under the Indian Arbitration Act, 1940 and the law of India, with hearings to be held in London. An umpire, after the arbitrators could not agree, issued an interim award and a fi…

P.E.C. Limited chartered a vessel from Austbulk Shipping and a dispute arose over freight and demurrage. The parties had an arbitration clause in the charter party, and a sole arbitrator awarded US$150,362.18 to Austbulk. P.E.C. filed a petition for enforcement of the foreign award in the Delhi High Court, objecting th…

Transocean Shipping Agency (P) Ltd appealed against a Bombay High Court decree that enforced a foreign arbitral award made in Ukraine in favour of Black Sea Shipping Co. The dispute arose from a 1992 agency agreement containing an arbitration clause referring disputes to the country where the owners were registered. Af…

The parties obtained an ICC arbitral award in London ordering RioGlass Solar to pay Shriram EPC Ltd €4.36 million. Shriram filed a petition under Section 47 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 to enforce the foreign award in India, while RioGlass contended that the award was unenforceable because it had not b…

Brace Transport Corporation of Monrovia sold a vessel to Orient Middle East Lines Ltd. and its nominee under a contract that provided for arbitration in England. An arbitral award granted the appellant a monetary sum, part of which remained unpaid. The vessel was subsequently sold to a third respondent (an Indian gover…

Shin‑Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd. entered into a contract with AKSH Optifibre Ltd. containing an international arbitration clause. After the contract was terminated, the respondent sued for a declaration that the arbitration agreement was void, while the appellant sought a direction under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Con…

The Indian company Bindal Agro Chem Ltd. invited bids for equipment and, after negotiations, agreed to modify its General Conditions of Purchase (which contained an arbitration clause) with Dresser Rand SA. The parties exchanged a revised set of conditions on 10 June 1991 and subsequently issued Letters of Intent on 12…

General Electric Company (GEC) and Renusagar Power Company entered into a contract for equipment supply, which later gave rise to disputes referred to ICC arbitration. Renusagar filed a suit in the Bombay High Court seeking a declaration that the disputes were not arbitrable, while GEC applied for a stay of the suit un…

R.M. Investment & Trading Co. (RMI) entered into a consultancy agreement with Boeing to promote sales of aircraft in India and later claimed a commission of US$17.5 million after Boeing sold two aircraft to Air India. The agreement contained an arbitration clause, and Boeing invoked Section 3 of the Foreign Awards (Rec…

Centrotrade Minerals & Metal Inc. and Hindustan Copper Ltd. entered into a contract containing a clause that provided for arbitration in India and, if either party was dissatisfied, a second arbitration in London whose award would be binding. The Indian arbitrator issued a NIL award, after which Centrotrade invoked the…

The Supreme Court considered an appeal by DLF Ltd. and another Indian company against a Croatian generator firm concerning the enforcement of a foreign arbitral award expressed in euros. The key issues were the appropriate date for fixing the foreign exchange rate to convert the award into rupees and the treatment of a…

The Supreme Court examined a batch of Special Leave Petitions arising from orders of the Delhi and Calcutta High Courts that refused to enforce foreign arbitral awards or to award interest. The central question was whether an order that is not appealable under section 50 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 co…

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) awarded a construction contract to Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd., which included a price‑adjustment formula based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) old series. When the Ministry of Industrial Development stopped publishing the old series and introduced a …

The appellant, N.S. Nayak & Sons, challenged the High Court's dismissal of its appeals under Section 37 of the Arbitration Act, 1940, arguing that the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 should govern the appeals because the arbitration agreement referred to "the provisions of the Arbitration Act, 1940 or any statut…

M/s Arif Azim Co. Ltd., an Afghan distributor, entered into a 2010 distributorship agreement with M/s Micromax Informatics FZE (UAE) that contained an arbitration clause designating Dubai as the venue and subjecting the arbitration to UAE Arbitration and Conciliation rules. After a credit dispute, the petitioner sought…

The Supreme Court examined three appeals concerning the applicability of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the new Act) versus the Arbitration Act, 1940 (the old Act) and the Foreign Awards Act, 1961. In Thyssen Stahlunion GmbH v. SAIL (CA 6036/98), arbitral proceedings began in 1995 under the old Act and the…

The respondent, Basant Nahata, sought registration of a power of attorney, which the Sub‑Registrar refused under a Rajasthan Government notification issued pursuant to Section 22‑A of the Indian Registration Act. The notification declared such documents "opposed to public policy" and barred their registration. The resp…

Koch Navigation chartered its vessel to Hindustan Petroleum for oil transport. A dispute was referred to a single arbitrator in London, who awarded a principal sum, interest, and ordered the costs of the arbitration reference to be paid by the respondent, to be determined by agreement or, failing that, by taxation. The…

The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) entered into a contract with Singer Company for equipment supply, stipulating that Indian law would govern the contract and Delhi courts would have exclusive jurisdiction. A dispute was referred to an ICC arbitral tribunal, which chose London as the seat and rendered an int…

The dispute arose from a contract between Bharat Aluminium Co. and Kaiser Aluminium Technical Service, Inc. that provided for arbitration in London under English law, but governed the contract by Indian law. After two awards were rendered in England, the appellant sought to set aside the awards under Section 34 of the …

Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd entered into a contract with ONGC Ltd for the installation of an oil platform, containing a clause that disputes would be governed by Indian law and arbitrated in London under ICC rules. A dispute led to arbitration, and the appointed umpire issued an award. ONGC filed a petition in the Bo…

Mis. Fuerst Day Lawson Ltd. entered into a supply contract with Jindal Exports Ltd. which gave rise to a dispute arbitrated before the International General Produce Association, resulting in a foreign award dated 13 August 1996. The award was sought to be enforced in Delhi High Court, but the court dismissed the execut…

Shri Lal Mahal Ltd., the seller, sought to resist enforcement of two foreign appeal awards (Nos. 3782 and 3783) passed by the Board of Appeal of the Grain and Feed Trade Association, London, on the ground that the awards contravened the contract and were contrary to public policy of India. The Delhi High Court had uphe…

The appellant and respondents entered into a partnership agreement in 2005 that contained an arbitration clause referring to the Indian Arbitration Act, 1940. The respondents filed a suit seeking injunction, and the appellant moved an application under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (1996 Act) …

Atlas Export Industries entered into a contract for the supply of groundnut extractions that incorporated by reference the GAFTA standard contract, which contained an arbitration clause mandating disputes be resolved in London under GAFTA rules. A dispute arose, arbitration was conducted in London and an award was made…