13 Aug 2026
The Trilegal Dispute Resolution Team advising on the matter was led by Partner: Mohammed Shameer; and supported by Senior Associate: Anuraag Pradip Iyer; and Associate: Nia Susan Chaly.
The Trilegal Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Team advising on the matter was led by Partner: Jaideep Reddy; and supported by Associate: Yashaswini Hareesh.
Matter Overview | Trilegal represented Aroha Labs Pte. Ltd., a Singapore based company (Aroha) before the High Court of Karnataka (Court) in a petition under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (Arbitration Act), seeking interim protection in aid of a Singapore-seated SIAC arbitration (Section 9 Petition).
Aroha had entered into master service agreements (MSAs) with certain independent consultants (Independent Consultants) for the development of certain applications, (including an astrology application titled Astro 247) (Applications). However, one of the Independent Consultants launched the Applications in the Indian market through a separate company by the name of Creato Club Private Limited (Creato Club). Thereafter, Creato Club began to assert ownership rights over the Applications by filing a civil suit in the name of Creato Club before the Bangalore Civil Courts against Aroha and its directors.
Since, there existed an arbitration clause in the MSAs, Aroha filed a Section 9 Petition before the Court. The Section 9 Petition was filed against the Independent Consultants and Creato Club seeking mandatory and temporary injunctive reliefs in so far as the Applications.
The following issues were framed for consideration by the Court: (i) Whether the petition under Section 9 of the Arbitration Act as filed by the Aroha is maintainable before the Court in light of proviso to sub-section (2) of Section 2 of Arbitration Act? (ii) Whether in view of the contentions urged by the parties, the petition under Section 9 of the Act, 1996 is maintainable against Creato Club, which admittedly is a non signatory to arbitration agreement (i.e., the MSAs)? (iii) Whether Aroha has made out a case for grant of interim relief against the respondents?
In a significant reportable judgment concerning the role of Indian courts in supporting foreign-seated arbitrations, the Court held that: (i) a petition under Section 9 of the Arbitration Act is maintainable in aid of a foreign-seated arbitration unless the parties have expressly or impliedly excluded the jurisdiction of Indian courts and no such express or implied exclusion exists in this case; (ii) Creato Club was prima facie bound by the arbitration agreement as it appeared to be the alter ego of one of the independent consultants and had been used to assert ownership over the applications; and (iii) Aroha had satisfied the three-pillar test for grant of injunctive reliefs. The court prima facie accepted Aroha’s submission that the Applications were developed at its instance.
Matter Significance | The judgment is significant as it is among the few decisions of the Karnataka High Court to consider the maintainability of Section 9 petitions in support of foreign-seated arbitrations following the introduction of the proviso to Section 2(2) of the Arbitration Act. It reinforces the pro-arbitration approach adopted by Indian courts by affirming the availability of interim reliefs under Section 9 in support of foreign-seated arbitrations. On Trilegal’s arguments, the court applied the alter ego doctrine in a Section 9 proceeding to bind a non-signatory to the arbitration agreement and, on that basis, granted injunctive reliefs — a notable extension of the doctrine to the interim relief stage.
About Trilegal
Trilegal is a leading full-service law firm in India with over 25 years of experience, trusted for its in-depth expertise and client-centric approach. The firm advises a diverse set of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, global investment funds, major Indian conglomerates, domestic and international banks, technology and media giants, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals. With 161 partners operating under a distinctive lockstep model, Trilegal is the largest equity partnership in the country. The firm retains over 1,300 professionals across its Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, and GIFT City offices.
Trilegal has consistently been recognised among India’s top-tier firms in leading legal directories such as Chambers & Partners (Asia Pacific and Global), Legal 500 Asia Pacific, and Benchmark Litigation. It has also earned several prestigious accolades, including being named Law Firm of the Year at the ET Global Legal Awards2026, Best Overall Law Firm by India Business Law Journal (IBLJ) 2025, Innovative Lawyers in Disputes & Crisis Management by the Financial Times (FT) Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific Awards in 2025, M&A Firm of the Year by IFLR Asia-Pacific in 2024.
For more information, please get in touch with Prakruti Jani | Mob: +91-9867868976 | BD@trilegal.com.
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