Published on: 13 February 2023 at 22:02 IST
Court: Supreme Court of India
Citation: Modi Entertainment Network v. W.S.G. Cricket Pte. Ltd. (2003)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has laid down the following principle for exercising discretion to grant an Anti-Suit Injunction the court must be satisfied of the following aspects:
- Defendant against whom injunction is sought, is amenable to the personal jurisdiction of the court;
- If the injunction is declined, the ends of justice will be defeated and injustice will be perpetuated; and
- The principle of comity — respect for the court in which the commencement or continuance of action/proceeding is sought to be restrained — must be borne in mind.
10. The courts in India like the courts in England are courts of both law and equity. The principles governing grant of injunction — an equitable relief — by a court will also govern grant of anti-suit injunction which is but a species of injunction.
When a court restrains a party to a suit/proceeding before it from instituting or prosecuting a case in another court including a foreign court, it is called anti-suit injunction. It is a common ground that the courts in India have power to issue anti-suit injunction to a party over whom it has personal jurisdiction, in an appropriate case.
This is because courts of equity exercise jurisdiction in personam.
However, having regard to the rule of comity, this power will be exercised sparingly because such an injunction though directed against a person, in effect causes interference in the exercise of jurisdiction by another court.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra