In Brief
Mankastu Impex, an Indian air quality product distributor, entered a Memorandum of Understanding with AirVisual Limited (Hong Kong) to exclusively distribute its air quality monitors in India. When AirVisual was acquired by IQAir AG, which refused to honour the original terms, Mankastu sought appointment of an arbitrator under Section 11(6) of the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition, holding that since the arbitration agreement specified Hong Kong as the place where disputes would be 'finally resolved by arbitration administered in Hong Kong', Hong Kong is the juridical seat of arbitration, not India. Consequently, Part-I of the Indian Arbitration Act does not apply, and Indian courts lack jurisdiction to appoint arbitrators. The court clarified that the substantive law (Indian law) and curial law (law of the seat) are distinct matters.
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