Anti-suit injunction in arbitration refused where the arbitration agreement was operative and the arbitral claim remained independently maintainable.

Where parties have an operative arbitration agreement and the arbitral claim is independently maintainable, an anti-suit injunction will not ordinarily be granted to restrain the agreed arbitral forum. The court applied the settled principles that such relief is exceptional and must turn on justice, convenience, and comity; a suit filed to frustrate arbitration, including by joining additional parties, does not by itself justify intervention. Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 was distinguished because the matter was not an application under that provision. The arbitration was therefore allowed to proceed.

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Issues: Whether an anti-suit injunction could be granted to restrain a party from continuing arbitral proceedings where the arbitration clause was admittedly operative and the arbitral claim was independently maintainable.

Analysis: The dispute arose from a commercial contract under which the respondent had invoked the agreed arbitration clause and commenced arbitral proceedings in London. The appellant sought to stop those proceedings by instituting a suit and joining an additional party, but the reasoning found that the arbitral claim concerned a distinct breach issue and that the suit was filed to frustrate arbitration rather than to obtain bona fide interim protection. The decision applied the principles governing anti-suit injunctions, including that such relief is exceptional, depends on justice, convenience, and comity, and cannot ordinarily be used to thwart proceedings before a contractually chosen arbitral forum. Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 was distinguished because the case was not an application under that provision.

Conclusion: The anti-suit injunction was not warranted, and the respondent was entitled to proceed with the arbitration.

Ratio Decidendi: Where parties have an operative arbitration agreement and the arbitral proceedings are independently maintainable, a court will not ordinarily grant an anti-suit injunction merely because a suit has been filed and additional parties have been joined, unless exceptional circumstances justify restraining the agreed arbitral forum.

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