Impleadment Of Non-Signatories To Arbitration Agreements: Analyzing The Cox & Kings V. Sap India Judgment And Its Implications
- IJLLR Journal
- May 1
- 1 min read
Akshay Tiwari & Manya Modi, Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies
ABSTRACT
This research paper critically examines the Supreme Court of India’s landmark decision Cox & Kings Ltd. v. SAP India Pvt. Ltd. & Anr., which completely redefined the legal concept of impleadment of non-signatories to arbitration agreements under Indian law. Conceptually, arbitration has traditionally been seen to be synonymous with consent as an arbitration mechanism that only bounds its signatories to an agreement. . On a chronology of the "Group of Companies" doctrine, this paper describes its origin from early formulation in Chloro Controls (India) Pvt. Ltd. v. Severn Trent Water Purification Inc. & ors. to its reinterpretation in Cox & Kings. wherein it was concluded that prior to the impleadment of a non-signatory party, there must be a prima facie establishment of both the existence of a valid arbitration agreement and the non-signatory’s substantive involvement in the underlying contractual arrangement. Furthermore, the Court reaffirmed a set of determinative factors to guide such assessments, including the mutual intention of the parties, the nature of the relationship between the non-signatory and the signatory, the commonality of the subject matter, the integrated and composite character of the transaction, and the extent of the non-signatory’s performance under the contract. This paper illustrates the difficult balance that must be struck between the upholding of the conciliatory character of arbitration and the practical operation of contractual transactions involving corporate group entities.
