Foreign seat arbitration excludes Indian Section 9 interim relief where parties choose foreign law and procedure.

Part I of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, including Section 9 interim relief, applies only where the seat of arbitration is in India. Where foreign parties agree to German law, German procedural law, and Frankfurt/Main as the exclusive venue for arbitration, the arbitration falls outside the territorial scope of Part I. On those terms, Indian courts cannot grant Section 9 relief, and the application is not maintainable. The dispute was not one for enforcement of a foreign award, so the foreign seat and procedural framework remained decisive.

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Issues: Whether an application under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 was maintainable where the agreement between foreign parties provided for German law, German procedural law, and Frankfurt/Main as the exclusive venue for arbitration.

Analysis: Part I of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 applies where the place of arbitration is in India. The agreement expressly subjected the disputes to German law, provided that arbitration would be conducted under the German Code of Civil Procedure, and fixed Frankfurt/Main as the exclusive venue. The parties were foreign entities, and the dispute was not one for enforcement of a foreign award. On these terms, the arbitration was outside the territorial scope of Part I of the Act. The parties were entitled to choose both the substantive law and the seat of arbitration, and where the seat was outside India, Section 9 could not be invoked in India.

Conclusion: Section 9 was held inapplicable, and the application was not maintainable. The petition was dismissed and the interim restraint was vacated.

Ratio Decidendi: Part I of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, including Section 9, applies only where the seat of arbitration is in India; where foreign parties choose a foreign seat and foreign procedural law, Indian interim relief under Section 9 is unavailable.

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