Indus Mobile Distribution Private Limited vs. Datawind Innovations Private Limited and Ors. [AIR 2017 SC 2105]: Supreme Court of India
The moment the seat of arbitration is designated, it is akin to an exclusive jurisdiction clause
20. A conspectus of all the aforesaid provisions
shows that the moment the seat is designated, it is akin to an exclusive
jurisdiction clause. On the facts of the present case, it is clear that the
seat of arbitration is Mumbai and Clause 19 further makes it clear that
jurisdiction exclusively vests in the Mumbai courts. Under the Law of
Arbitration, unlike the Code of Civil Procedure which applies to suits filed in
courts, a reference to “seat” is a concept by which a neutral venue
can be chosen by the parties to an arbitration clause. The neutral venue may
not in the classical sense have jurisdiction – that is, no part of the cause of
action may have arisen at the neutral venue and neither would any of the
provisions of Section 16 to 21 of the Code of Civil Procedure be attracted. In
arbitration law however, as has been held above, the moment “seat” is
determined, the fact that the seat is at Mumbai would vest Mumbai courts with
exclusive jurisdiction for purposes of regulating arbitral proceedings arising
out of the agreement between the parties.