Photo of Namrata Sadhnani

Senior Associate in the Dispute Resolution Practice at the Noida office of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Namrata focuses on disputes in relation to arbitration proceedings, consumer disputes, insolvency proceedings, as well as other corporate and commercial litigation. She can be reached at namrata.sadhnani@cyrilshroff.com

 

 

Introduction

The Supreme Court of India (“SC”) in its landmark decision in Arif Azim Co. Ltd. v. Micromax Informatics FZE[1] (“Arif Azim”)[2] has once again reiterated the distinction between ‘seat’ and ‘venue’ in an arbitration agreement and its jurisdictional implication. The judgment addresses the contentious issue of whether a location designated in an arbitration agreement serves merely as ‘venue’ (a place where proceedings may occur) or as juridical ‘seat’ (which grants a court jurisdictional oversight). This distinction has immense implications, especially for cross-border commercial agreements, where different interpretations can lead to divergent legal outcomes.Continue Reading Decoding Supreme Court’s Landmark Decision on ‘Seat’ vs. ‘Venue’ in Arbitration

Simultaneous IBC Proceedings against Corporate Debtor and Corporate Guarantor: Critical Takeaways from BRS Ventures Case

The legal landscape governing insolvency resolution in India has undergone significant transformation since the advent of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”). One of the contentious issues in this evolving framework is whether simultaneous insolvency proceedings can be initiated against both the corporate debtor and its corporate guarantor for the same debt. The recent Supreme Court judgment in BRS Ventures Investments Ltd. v. SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd. (2024 INSC 548) offers clarity on the treatment of such proceedings and reinforces key principles governing the relationship between creditors, debtors, and guarantors.Continue Reading Simultaneous IBC Proceedings against Corporate Debtor and Corporate Guarantor: Critical Takeaways from BRS Ventures Case

Untangling legal knot: SC’s ruling on “security deposits” as financial or operational debt under IBC

Introduction

For initiating proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (“IBC”), categorisation of a creditor as either a “financial creditor” or an “operational creditor” is a rather significant first step. Such categorisation is not merely organisational, but essential since the rights, obligations and procedural requirements for realisation of debt by financial and operational creditors also differ under the IBC.Continue Reading Untangling legal knot: SC’s ruling on “security deposits” as financial or operational debt under IBC

Final Word on Enforceability of Unstamped Arbitration Agreements

“It [law of arbitration] is to be expeditious where the law is slow, cheap where the law is costly, simple where the law is technical, a peacemaker instead of a stirrer-up of strife.”[1]

Are arbitration clauses in unstamped or inadequately stamped agreements enforceable? This is a question that has been under legal scrutiny and has seen conflicting views from various constitutional benches of the Supreme Court for over half a decade.Continue Reading Final Word on Enforceability of Unstamped Arbitration Agreements

SC rules on applicability of doctrine of ‘group of companies’ in arbitration jurisprudence

Introduction

Consent by way of consensus-ad-idem and party autonomy are so deeply entrenched as the foundational or grundnorm principles of arbitration, that any material deviation therefrom is likely to pose challenges. One such challenge is the introduction of the doctrine of ‘group of companies’ in the jurisprudence of Indian arbitration, whereunder an arbitration agreement is extended, under certain conditions, to even non-signatory companies of the same group. In the words of Dr. Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, Hon’ble CJI, it is “a modern theory which challenges the conventional notions of arbitration law.”Continue Reading SC rules on applicability of doctrine of ‘group of companies’ in arbitration jurisprudence