04 March 2021 | Amway India Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. v. Ravindranath Rao Sindhia & another |BR Gavai JJ | 2021 SCC OnLine SC 171

Mr Sindhia, a US resident, applied to become Amway’s distributor in India as a sole proprietorship. Mrs Sindhia, also a US resident, was the co-applicant. The distributorship was granted in the name of Sindhia Enterprises (sole-proprietorship). Would an arbitration between the couple, on the one hand, and Amway on the other be an ICA? The Delhi High Court said no and appointed an arbitrator. It reasoned that the central management of the distributorship was in India.

Reversing and distinguishing Larsen & Toubro Ltd.—Scomi Engineering Bhd. v. MMRDA (2019) 2 SCC 271, the Supreme Court said whatever be the transaction between the parties if at least one foreign national was involved (or a habitual foreign resident, foreign body corporate, or foreign government), the matter was an ICA notwithstanding that the business was carried on in India through an office [See Section 2(1) (f) ACA].

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