In Brief
Amway India appealed a Delhi High Court order appointing a sole arbitrator to resolve a distributorship dispute with Ravindranath Rao Sindhia, a US resident operating a sole proprietorship in India. The High Court held the dispute was domestic arbitration because the business was managed in India. The Supreme Court reversed this, holding that when at least one party is a foreign national or habitually resident abroad, the arbitration is 'international commercial arbitration' under Section 2(1)(f)(i) of the Arbitration Act, regardless of where business is conducted. A sole proprietorship has no separate legal identity and is equated with its proprietor; therefore, the proprietor's nationality governs. The Supreme Court ruled the High Court lacked jurisdiction, which vests exclusively with the Supreme Court in international commercial arbitration cases.
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