Indian courts can restrain foreign arbitration: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has said that Indian courts have the jurisdiction to restrain foreign arbitration cases from going ahead, but permitted a dispute over the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s media rights between World Sport Group (Mauritius) and MSM Satellite (Singapore) to be decided by the Singapore-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

A single judge of the Bombay High Court had on September 17, 2010 referred the row to the ICC for arbitration, but a division bench had stalled the process on an appeal. A two-judge top court bench, led by Justice AK Patnaik, restored the singlejudge order on January 24, 2014. The issue relates to the Indian Premier League’s media rights. World Sport had first sought ICC arbitration.

The top court rejected the contention that because an agreement provided “that any party may seek equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction in Singapore, or such other court that may have jurisdiction over the parties, the Bombay HC had no jurisdiction to entertain the suit and restrain the arbitration proceedings.”

It further said: “Under Section 9 of the CPC (Civil Procedure Code), courts in India have jurisdiction to try all suits of a civil nature excepting suits of which cognizance is either expressly or impliedly barred.”

BCCI and MSM signed a fouryear media rights agreement in January 2008. After the first IPL season in 2008, BCCI terminated the agreement with MSM for the Indian subcontinent and began negotiations with WSG India.