Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd vs M/s Discovery Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. & Anr

Bench: 3 — Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, Surya Kant, Vikram Nath

In Brief

ONGC awarded a contract to Discovery Enterprises (DEPL) for a floating vessel worth Rs 63.88 crores. When the vessel went missing and DEPL failed to complete customs duty formalities, ONGC sued both DEPL and JDIL (DEPL's parent company) for arbitration. The Arbitral Tribunal rejected JDIL's joinder, finding it was not a signatory. The Supreme Court held that the Tribunal violated natural justice by deferring ONGC's discovery application before ruling on jurisdiction. The court found the group of companies doctrine could apply if evidence was properly examined. The interim award was set aside, and the case was remitted for fresh arbitration with a reconstituted tribunal to properly examine the corporate relationship and decide jurisdictional issues afresh."

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Arbitration Group of Companies Doctrine Jurisdiction of Arbitral Tribunal Natural Justice Non-Signatory Parties Corporate Veil Discovery and Inspection

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