NCLT temporarily stays arbitration proceedings involving Shaadi.com CEO before Singapore tribunal

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai recently ordered an interim stay on arbitration proceedings involving Shaadi.com Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anupam Mittal which to commence before an arbitral tribunal in Singapore next week [Anupam Mittal v. People Interactive (India) Pvt Ltd and Ors].A coram of judicial member Reeta Kohli and technical member Madhu Sinha passed the interim order on September 15. "In view of the peculiar facts, circumstances and the settled law, we are of the considered opinion that the applicant (MIttal) deserves to be granted the relief of interim injunction and the arbitration proceedings scheduled from September 18 to 22, 2023 deserve to be stayed," the order stated..The NCLT case arose from disputes between Mittal and Westbridge Ventures concerning their stake in People Interactive (India) Pvt Ltd which owns the matrimonial website Shaadi.com.Westbridge claimed it held certain contractual rights, including exit rights, in the Shareholders Agreement (SHA) executed with People Interactive.The SHA contained an arbitration clause in which the seat of arbitration of disputes was stated to be in Singapore. However, the enforcement of the award was subject to Indian laws..In 2019, certain disputes arose between the parties concerning the management of People Interactive.Mittal claimed that Westbridge's actions including moves to appoint its nominees on the Board of Directors of People Interactive, amounted to oppression and mismanagement. He, therefore, moved the NCLT in the matter.Mittal reasoned that since oppression cases were not arbitrable in India, the NCLT was the only available forum for his grievance redressal.He argued that even if an award on the issue of oppression is obtained from the Singapore tribunal, the same would not be enforceable in India under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. .On the other hand, Westbridge stated that the dispute ought to be decided as per Singapore law in view of a specific arbitration clause in the SHA.It elaborated that it was not able to exercise its exit rights as mentioned in the SHA thus making it a contractual dispute and not an issue about mismanagement of the company.It had obtained an anti-suit injunction in October 2021 from the Singapore High Court restraining Mittal from proceeding with the company petition in the NCLT.Aggrieved by the order, Mittal moved the Bombay High Court seeking a stay on the anti-suit injunction order, which the High Court granted on September 11..In its order, NCLT referred to the High Court order, which recorded that if Westbridge is allowed to continue with the arbitration proceedings, the same may cause irreparable loss to Mittal.The NCLT agreed with these observations and proceeded to grant the injunction till the pendency of the company petition. "We deem it appropriate to hold that Westbridge may still have a remedy of invoking Section 45 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 during the pendency of the company petition before NCLT. On the other hand, the continuation of arbitration proceedings in Singapore and getting the exit rights on the sale of shares by Westbridge will render Mittal remediless and the present petition infructuous," the tribunal reasoned. .Senior Advocates Ravi Kadam and Sharan Jagtiani with Advocates Kunal Dwarkadas, Rahul Dwarkadas, Areez Gazdar, Nutash Kotwal and Shireen Mistri appeared for Mittal.Senior Advocates Janak Dwarkadas and Nikhil Sakhardande with Advocates Rajendra Barot, Anusha Jacob, Mrudula Dixit and Richa Borthakur appeared for Westbridge..[Read Order]