ISSUE:
Whether a non-signatory or third party can be subjected to arbitration without their consent in exceptional circumstances?
What is the ambit and scope of section 45 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996?
RULE:
The “Group of Companies” doctrine, was observed in this case for the first time in Indian legal history, and it stated that an arbitration agreement entered into by a company, being one within a group of companies, can bind its non- signatory affiliates or sister or parent concerns, if the circumstances demonstrate, that the mutual intention of all the parties was to bind both- the signatories and the non-signatory affiliates, while being in accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act.