In Brief
A consortium between an Indian construction company (L&T) and a Malaysian company (Scomi Engineering) sought arbitration of claims under a Mumbai Monorail contract. The Supreme Court dismissed the arbitration petition, holding it was not an "international commercial arbitration" under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The Court found the consortium must act as a single entity (not separate members), constitutes an unincorporated association, and its central management and control is exercised in India—where L&T leads as the controlling partner, operates the office, and heads arbitration proceedings. Therefore, neither Section 2(1)(f)(ii) nor (iii) applied to classify this as international arbitration.
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