Arbitration

Within eight months, the Supreme Court moved from holding unstamped arbitration agreements unenforceable to holding that stamping is a curable defect for the tribunal to address. The seven-judge ruling in In re Interplay restored the pro-arbitration balance, but parties still pay a price for poor stamping discipline.

The Constitution Bench in Cox and Kings v SAP India confirmed that a company which never signed an arbitration agreement can still be bound by it. The decision rests the doctrine on consent rather than corporate convenience, and that shift matters for how groups contract and litigate.