* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Reserved on: 04^th March 2025 Pronounced on: 09^thApril 2025 + CS(COMM) 628/2022, I.A. 11827/2023 &I.A. 13667/2023 ZHUHAI HANSEN TECHNOLOGY CO LTD .....Plaintiff Through: Ms. Gurmeet Bindra, Adv. along with Ms. Manisha Singh, Advocate.

versus AKSH OPTIFIBRE LIMITED AND ORS .....Defendants Through: Mr. Vikas Goel, Mr. Ritesh Sharma, Mr. Vivek Gupta, Mr. Harmanbir Singh Sandhu, Mr. Wanglen Ngangom, Advocates.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANISH DAYAL

JUDGMENT

ANISH DAYAL, J.

I.A. 36412/2024 (Application under Section 45 of Arbitration & Conciliation Act)

in CS(COMM) 628/2022

1. This application has been filed by defendant no.1 under Section 45 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘A&C Act’). The plaintiff in the present case is a foreign entity. The suit has been filed by the plaintiff based on two contracts dated 17^th January 2017 (‘Contract-I’) and 5^th April 2017 (‘Contract-

Signature Not VIe.rAifi.e d36412/2024 in CS(COMM) 628/2022 Page 1 of 33 Digitally Signed II’). The agreement was to enable defendant no.1 to supply Optic Fiber Cables (‘OFC’) in variant models in different quantities to the plaintiff.

2. Clause-16 of Contract-I and Clause-18 of Contract-II contain arbitration agreements, which are reproduced as under:

“Clause 16: Arbitration and Applicable Law:

All disputes arising from the performance of this Contract shall, through amicable negotiations, be settled by the parties hereto. Should, through negotiations, no settlement be reached, the case in question should be submitted for arbitration to Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre according to the rules of this centre. The arbitration procedures shall be proceeded in Chinese and English bilingually at the same time.

The award of the arbitration should be final and binding upon the parties hereto.

This Contract shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the People's Republic of China."

“Clause 18: Arbitration and Applicable Law:

All disputes arising from the performance of this Contract shall, through amicable negotiations, be settled by the parties hereto. Should, through negotiations, no settlement be reached, the case in question should be submitted for arbitration to Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre according to the rules of this centre. The arbitration procedures shall be proceeded in Chinese and English bilingually at the same time. The award of the arbitration should be final and binding upon the parties hereto.

This Contract shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the People's Republic of China."

Signature Not VIe.rAifi.e d36412/2024 in CS(COMM) 628/2022 Page 2 of 33 Digitally Signed

3. These arbitration clauses provide for settlement of disputes through arbitration under the aegis of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (‘HKIAC’) and in the absence of a contract to the contrary, the seat of arbitration was Hong Kong.

4. Applicant/defendant no.1 relies upon Article 14.1 of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre Administered Arbitration Rules 2024, effective

1^st June 2024, which reads as under:

“The parties may agree on the seat of arbitration. Where there is no agreement as to the seat, the seat of arbitration shall be Hong Kong, unless the arbitral tribunal determines, having regard to the circumstances of the case, that another seat is more appropriate.”

5. The contracts are governed and exclusively construed in accordance with the laws of the People’s Republic of China.

6. Reliance on Section 45 of A&C Act is, therefore, placed to refer the matter to arbitration. Section 45 of A&C Act is extracted as under:

“45. Power of judicial authority to refer parties to arbitration.

Notwithstanding anything contained in Part I or in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), a judicial authority, when seized of an action in a matter in respect of which the parties have made an agreement referred to in section 44, shall, at the request of one of the parties or