Category: Inadmissible Document

ISSUE:

Whether an arbitration clause is void and unenforceable if the contract which contains the said clause is not stamped in accordance with the Stamp Act?

Whether allegations of wrongful invocation of a bank guarantee furnished in the said contract would be an arbitrable dispute?

RULE:

The Doctrine of Separability twinned along with the synonymous concept of Kompetenz-kompetenz, lies in the essence of the arbitration agreement itself. 

The two principles dictate the arbitral tribunals authority in order to decide its jurisdiction irrespective of whether the legal instrument which contains the arbitration agreement is terminated or not. The doctrine of separability grants a material base while the kompetenz-kompetenz principle gives a procedural base to the tribunal.

ISSUE:

Whether issues related to Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) can be subject to arbitral proceedings?

RULE:

Subject matter arbitrability is the core principle which is used to determine which disputes must be solved by arbitration and which disputes should be reserved for courts only. The crux of the dispute is dissected and examined before deciding the means of dispute resolution through this principle.