In Brief
A company in Afghanistan sought court appointment of an arbitrator under Section 11 of the Arbitration Act, 1996, against a UAE-based company for recovery of credit balance. The Court held that Part I of the Act applies only where arbitration takes place in India (by seat or Indian governing law). Here, the distributorship agreement expressly designated Dubai, UAE as the seat of arbitration with UAE curial law, and was governed by UAE law. Applying the Shashoua Principle, the Court concluded Dubai is the juridical seat, not merely a venue. Since neither the seat nor governing law is Indian, Indian courts lack jurisdiction. The petition was dismissed as unmaintainable.
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