CRUZ CITY 1 MAURITIUS HOLDINGS Vs. UNITECH LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Cruz City 1 Mauritius Holdings (hereafter 'Cruz City'), a company established under the laws of Mauritius, has filed the present petition for enforcement of a foreign award dated 06.07.2012 (hereafter 'the Award'). The Award was rendered by an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the Arbitration Rules of the London Court of International Arbitration pursuant to a request for arbitration filed by Cruz City with the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) in respect of disputes arising out of an agreement captioned as Keepwell Agreement dated 06.06.2008 (hereafter 'the Keepwell Agreement'). The Keepwell Agreement was entered into between Cruz City, Burley Holdings Ltd. (hereafter 'Burley'), a wholly owned subsidiary of Unitech Ltd., incorporated under the laws of Mauritius, and Unitech Ltd. (hereafter 'Unitech'), a public company incorporated in India.

(2.) Unitech has opposed the enforcement of the Award essentially on three grounds. First, it alleges that the Award includes a decision on matters beyond the scope of submission to arbitration; second, that Unitech did not have proper notice from either Cruz City or the Arbitral Tribunal for responding to the claim for payment against the purchase of shares; and third, that the enforcement of the Award would be contrary to the Public Policy of India as it violates the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA). Background

(3.) The aforesaid controversy arises in the context of the following facts:-