Bharat Aluminium Co. v. Kaiser Aluminium Technical Services Inc. (BALCO)

This watershed judgment fundamentally transformed Indian arbitration jurisprudence by overruling the controversial Bhatia International decision. The five-judge Constitution Bench held that Part I of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 applies only to arbitrations where the juridical seat is in India, effectively ending Indian courts' interference in foreign-seated arbitrations. The Court examined the territorial principle underlying the UNCITRAL Model Law and held that the 'seat' of arbitration determines the curial law that governs the arbitration. This meant that if parties chose a foreign seat, Indian courts would have no supervisory jurisdiction under Part I of the Act. The judgment brought Indian arbitration law in conformity with international standards. To avoid chaos and protect vested rights, the Court applied the judgment prospectively to arbitration agreements executed on or after September 6, 2012. This BALCO decision is considered the most significant arbitration judgment in India, making the country a more arbitration-friendly jurisdiction for international commerce.