Third-party litigation funding under UK Privy Council scrutiny; two Indian lawyers to face off

A dispute over third-party litigation funding has reached the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom (UK), placing the enforceability of such funding arrangements under renewed scrutiny.

OGD Services Holdings Limited (part of Essar Group), a Mauritian Company filed an appeal before the Privy Council in London in November 2025, challenging a judgment of the Supreme Court of Mauritius which upheld the recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award in favour of another Mauritian entity, Norscot Rig Management. Norscot confirmed that it will contest the appeal and filed its grounds of objections in December 2025. The matter is expected to be listed for hearing before the Privy Council next year.

The appeal will see a high-profile clash between Indian senior counsel before the Privy Council. Harish Salve KC of Blackstone is representing Norscot, while Nakul Dewan KC of Twenty Essex, London is appearing for OGD. The case is likely to draw close attention internationally given its broader implications on litigation funding disputes.

Mauritius is one of the countries whose highest court of appeal is the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. Under Mauritius’ constitutional and judicial framework, parties can appeal judgments of the Supreme Court of Mauritius to the Privy Council, subject to leave being granted. The Privy Council functions as the final appellate court for Mauritius, even though it is based in the United Kingdom.

In this case, the Supreme Court of Mauritius granted leave to appeal to OGD Services Holdings Limited in September 2025. That decision allowed OGD to carry the dispute to the Privy Council, which will now examine whether the Mauritian courts were right in recognising and enforcing the arbitral award in favour of Norscot.

OGD had earlier challenged a partial award before the High Court of Justice in England & Wales, arguing that such funding costs were not recoverable. That challenge failed, with the High Court holding that the statutory power to award “legal and other costs” under the Arbitration Act was wide enough to include third-party litigation funding costs. OGD then resisted enforcement proceedings of the final award in Mauritius, but the Mauritian Supreme Court dismissed the challenge and allowed the award to be enforced.

The appeal is closely linked to the UK Supreme Court’s July 2023 decision in PACCAR, which marked a turning point for litigation funding in England and Wales. In that ruling, the Court held that litigation funding agreements under which funders receive a percentage of damages recovered by a claimant amount to damages-based agreements. Since such agreements are subject to strict statutory requirements, the ruling rendered many commonly used third-party funding arrangements unenforceable.

The Privy Council appeal comes at a time when the UK government has indicated that it intends to legislate to address the uncertainty created by the ruling on litigation funding.

OGD is represented by Partner Shivani Sanghi of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) in London and led by Nakul Dewan KC. Norscot is represented by Rishab Gupta of Twenty Essex, London, led by Harish Salve KC and briefed by Bilshan Nursimulu of Orison Legal.