Section 9 interim relief may extend to foreign-seated arbitration where Indian territorial jurisdiction and efficacy are established.

Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 can be invoked for interim protection in support of an arbitration seated outside India, because Part I is not confined to domestic arbitrations in a narrow sense. Reading Sections 2, 9, 11 and 42 together, the Delhi High Court held that Indian court intervention is not excluded merely because the arbitration is foreign-seated. Where territorial jurisdiction exists and the respondent has presence or assets in India, interim relief may be granted if that remedy is efficacious and the statute does not expressly bar it. The objection to maintainability was therefore rejected.

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Issues: Whether Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 could be invoked to obtain interim relief in aid of an arbitration seated outside India, and whether the application for interim protection was maintainable in the circumstances.

Analysis: The application challenged the maintainability of interim relief under Section 9 on the footing that the arbitration was to be conducted in England under English law. The Court held that Part I of the Act is not confined to domestic arbitrations in a narrow sense. Relying on prior decisions of the same Court, it treated Section 2 as an inclusive provision and read Sections 9, 11 and 42 together to conclude that the Act does not exclude Indian court intervention merely because the arbitration is foreign-seated. The Court also attached significance to the respondent's presence and assets in India and to the existence of territorial jurisdiction, observing that relief should not be denied on technical grounds where Indian court intervention would be efficacious.

Conclusion: The objection to maintainability was rejected and the Court held that interim relief under Section 9 was available notwithstanding the foreign seat of arbitration.

Ratio Decidendi: Part I of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, including Section 9, is capable of application to international commercial arbitrations, and Indian courts may grant interim relief where territorial jurisdiction exists and the statutory scheme does not expressly exclude such jurisdiction.

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