BELVEDERE RESOURCES DMCC vs OCL IRON AND STEEL LTD. & ORS.

Judgment text excerpt

$~50 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + FAO(OS) (COMM) 33/2025 BELVEDERE RESOURCES DMCC .....Appellant Through: Mr. Gauhar Mirza, Ms. Hiral Gupta, Ms. Amita Katragadda, Advs. versus OCL IRON AND STEEL LTD. & ORS. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Krishna Raj Thaker, Sr. Adv. with Mr. Anand Sukumar, Mr. S Sukumaran, Mr. Bhupesh Pathak and Mrs. Ruche Anand, Advs. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C. HARI SHANKAR HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AJAY DIGPAUL ORDER (ORAL) % 10.03.2025 C. HARI SHANKAR, J. 1. The appellant Belvedere Resources DMCC and S M Niryat Private Limited, purportedly the predecessor of the respondent, entered into a Standard Coal Trading Agreement1, whereunder the appellant agreed to sell coal to the respondent in bulk. Clause (q) of the SCOTA reads thus: “Governing Law & Arbitration- English law to apply Arbitration as per SIAC and venue to be Singapore” 1 “SCOTA” hereinafter FAO(OS) (COMM) 33/2025 Page 1 of 6 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AJIT KUMAR Signing Date:12.03.2025 19:43:29 2. It is not in dispute that, apart from Clause (q), there is no clause in the SCOTA identifying any venue or place or seat of arbitration or conferring exclusive jurisdiction, in respect of matters concerning the SCOTA, on any particular court. 3. The SCOTA was terminated in November 2022, whereafter the appellant instituted OMP (I) (Comm) 397/2024, seeking urgent pre- arbitral interim reliefs under Section 9 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 19962. 4. On 19 December 2024 and 3 February 2025, the following orders were passed in the OMP: Order dated 19 December 2024 “1. At the outset, respective counsel submit that the parties have been unable to mutually agree on the appointment of a Sole Arbitrator to adjudicate the disputes between the parties. 2. Respective counsel