An anti-suit permanent injunction decision issued by the High Court of Singapore against Anupam Mittal, the founder and CEO of Shaadi.com, has recently been temporarily stayed by the Bombay High Court.
Mittal had been unable to file a suit with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai claiming corporate retaliation by Westbridge Ventures II Investment Holdings due to this ruling from the Singapore High Court.
The point of contention between Mittal and Westbridge Ventures relates to their ownership of People Interactive (India) Pvt Ltd, a business that Westbridge eventually invested in after Mittal co-founded it in 1997.
There was an arbitration clause in a Shareholders Agreement (SHA) signed with regard to People Interactive (India) Pvt. Ltd. that indicated Singapore would be the location of the arbitration hearings. The administration of People Interactive (India) was one of the topics of contention between the parties.
Mittal said that Westbridge had engaged in tyranny and poor management through its activities, including attempts to appoint its nominees to the People Interactive (India) Board of Directors. In order to address the issue, Mittal tried to contact the NCLT.
Westbridge filed a petition with the High Court of Singapore in March 2021, asserting that the issues brought before the NCLT were solely commercial and subject to arbitration.
In light of a particular arbitration clause in the SHA that stated that the seat of arbitration should be in Singapore, Westbridge also said that the issue should be resolved in accordance with Singaporean law.
The anti-suit injunction ruling was given by the Singapore High Court in October 2021.
The ex-parte ruling was promptly moved for vacation, and Mittal also filed an appeal against it with the Singapore Court of Appeals. To prevent the defendants from executing the anti-suit interim injunction ruling, he concurrently filed the current lawsuit before the Bombay High Court.
According to Mittal, conflicts involving tyranny and poor management are not subject to arbitration. He said that bringing up these problems in arbitration hearings held in Singapore would be pointless, especially since any awards made in such hearings would not be enforceable in India. Additionally, he requested an immediate order since Westbridge Ventures’ arbitration was scheduled to start in September 2023.
Westbridge Ventures stated that because Mittal had consented to the arbitration of legal problems and because Singapore was designated as the venue, Singaporean law should be used. They further said that Mittal could not assert that the NCLT was his only legal recourse since under Singaporean law, problems involving tyranny and poor management may be arbitrated.
However, Justice Pitale remarked that it would become important if the arbitral verdict were to be upheld in India because claims of persecution and management failures could not be arbitrated there.
The Court further stated that only the NCLT has the authority to determine whether or not the concerns brought up by Mittal constitute contractual disputes.
The Court then granted Mittal relief in the situation. Additionally, the court instructed the defendants to postpone the shareholders’ Extraordinary General Meeting by eight weeks so Mittal could file his petition with the NCLT.
Justice Manish Pitale noted the ‘comity of courts’ concept, according to which courts are obligated to respect the laws of other jurisdictions, in his decision to overturn this injunction ruling. A litigant’s valuable right to seek justice cannot be superseded, he continued.
Written By: Hetanshi Bhojaviya, College Name: GLS Law College, Semester : IX (B.A.LL.B) an intern under Legal Vidhiya
0 Comments