JUDGMENT :

A.M. Khanwilkar, J.

1. The singular question involved in this application filed under Sections 11(5), 11(9) and 11(12)(a) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (for short “the Act”) seeking appointment of a sole arbitrator, is whether respondent No.2 a company established under the laws of Belgium, having its principal place of business at Nijverheldsstraat 3, 2530 Boechout, Belgium, could be impleaded in the proposed arbitration proceedings despite the fact that it is a non-signatory party to the agreement dated 1st May, 2014, executed between the applicant and respondent No.1 a company established under the Companies Act, 2013 merely because it (respondent No.2) is one of the group companies of which respondent No.1 also is a constituent. The legal position as to when a nonsignatory to an arbitration agreement can be impleaded and subjected to arbitration proceedings is no more res integra. In the case of Chloro Controls India Private Limited Vs. Severn Trent Water Purification Inc. and Ors., (2013) 1 SCC 641, a threeJudge Bench of this Court opined that ordi