Alpana Tech Private Ltd and Swalpana Solutions Private Ltd, both companies incorporated in India, entered into a contractual agreement that included an arbitration clause. A dispute arose and Alpana Tech sought to classi

The facts of the given situation are similar to the case of TDM Infrastructure (P) Ltd. v. UE Development India (P) Ltd. The Supreme Court of India in this case, while determining whether an arbitration is a domestic or a foreign arbitration ruled that a company which is incorporated in India, has the Indian nationality for the purpose of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. It therefore cannot be said that where both the parties who get into an arbitration agreement and are companies registered in India, the arbitration agreement between them be referred to as International Commercial Arbitration under Section 2(1) (f) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. "An arbitration is considered to be 'international' if (in the sense of the Model Law) it involves parties of different nationalities, or it takes place in a country that is 'foreign' to the parties, or it involves an international dispute. Nonetheless, a caveat must be entered to the effect that such arbitrations will not necessarily be universally regarded as international. If a question arises as to whether or not a particular arbitration is 'international', the answer will depend upon the provisions of the relevant national law." The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 defines an International Commercial Arbitration under Section 2(f) as follows: "International commercial arbitration" means an arbitration relating to disputes arising out of legal relationships, whether contractual or not, considered as commercial under the law in force in India and where at least one of the parties is- an individual who is a national of, or habitually resident in, any country other than India or, a body corporate which is incorporated in any country other than India; or an association or a body of individuals whose central management and control is exercised in any country other than India, or the Government of a foreign country Upon a perusal of the definition provided above, in a simple language, an international commercial arbitration means the disputes settled through arbitration which involves parties that transcend the national boundaries. On the other hand, a domestic arbitration is one where the arbitration takes place in India, the subject matter of the contract is in India, the merits on which the dispute exists between the parties and the procedure that is to be applicable for the arbitral proceedings is governed by the local laws of India. For example, Switzerland determines the nature of the arbitration being international or domestic on the basis whether at the time when the arbitration agreement was concluded between the parties, at least any of the parties was not domiciled or habitually resident in Switzerland. Therefore, Alpana Tech is not likely to succeed.