The Supreme Court held that where an arbitration agreement names two possible seats or venues but also confers exclusive jurisdiction on a specific court, the exclusive-jurisdiction clause governs and forum non conveniens does not apply to displace the chosen court. A digest of the facts, the holding, and what it means for drafting arbitration clauses.
On 19 April 2017, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court held that the parties' designation of a seat of arbitration operates as an exclusive jurisdiction clause — vesting the courts at the seat with exclusive supervisory jurisdiction even where no cause of action arose there. The decision imported the international seat-as-jurisdiction principle into Indian domestic arbitration and supplied the analytic engine for the seat-versus-venue line in BGS SGS Soma JV, Mankastu Impex and Hardy Exploration.