- You are here:
- Home
- Court Decisions
- INDIA 2026-5
INDIA 2026-5
High Court of Judicature, Bombay, Ordinary Original Civil Jurisdiction, Commercial Division, 27 November 2024
(Neilan International Co Limited v. Powerica Limited)
INDIA 2026-5
An ICC arbitral tribunal found in a partial award that there was an arbitration agreement between the parties, rejecting Powerica’s argument that it had not consented to the assignment of the underlying contract by the original contracting party to Neilan. The Court granted enforcement of the final award, rendered in England, dismissing the same argument on the ground that the arbitral tribunal’s decision on the matter in the partial award had become final, as the respondent had not challenged that award at the seat of the arbitration. Powerica’s contention that its lack of consent to the assignment meant that enforcement would violate the public policy of India was, the Court found, an impermissible attempt to review the merits of the partial award in support of its opposition to the final award’s exequatur.
The court discusses the conditions under which a party may be estopped from raising a ground for refusal of enforcement under the Convention or has waived the right to raise it.
The court discusses the principle that the merits of the award may not be reviewed and that the court may only carry out a limited review of the award to ascertain grounds for refusal.
Invalidity of the arbitration agreement: The court discusses other cases of invalidity of the arbitration agreement, including that there was no agreement at all or that the party was not a signatory thereto, that the incorrect arbitral institution was chosen, etc.
Public policy: The court discusses the meaning of (international as compared to domestic) public policy, generally defined as the basic notions of morality and justice of the enforcement State.
Public policy: The court discusses the effect of other alleged violations of public policy on the recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award, such as contradictory reasons, manifest disregard of the law (US), etc.