Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas advises InterContinental Hotels Group in litigation related to pending arbitration

March 2, 2022

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. represented InterContinental Hotels Group in an application for appointment of an arbitrator and defended the challenge to the application on the ground that the arbitration agreement was insufficiently stamped. The Supreme Court allowed the application for appointment, finding that insufficiency in payment of stamp duty did not concern the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement and that judicial scrutiny at the pre-appointment stage was limited. The date of filing was in April 2019.

In the present judgement, the Court adopted a pro-arbitration approach and appointed the sole arbitrator. It recognized that arbitrations should not be left hanging until the larger Bench settled the issue, unless the issue before the Court patently indicated existence of deadwood. The judgement has brought a sigh of relief to several commercial parties who have been stuck for years now, at the pre-appointment stage due to the reference made to a larger Bench in N.N. Global Mercantile Pvt. Ltd. v Indo Unique Flame Limited.

The transaction team was led by Ila Kapoor, Partner; Ananya Aggarwal, Principal Associate; Surabhi Lal, Senior Associate; Mrinali Komandur, Associate and Ritin Rai, Senior Advocate. The Respondents – Waterline Hotels Pvt. Ltd. was represented by. S. Narain & Co. and Mr. Navkesh Batra, Advocate.