Arbitration: Umbrella Contract - Arbitration Agreement

M.R. Engineers and Contractors v. Som Datt Builders, (2009) 7 SCC 696, has

clearly and elaborately discussed the principles relating to incorporation of an arbitration clause into a contract from another document.

"A general reference to another contract will not be sufficient to incorporate the arbitration clause from the referred contract into the contract under consideration. There should be a special reference indicating a mutual intention to incorporate the arbitration clause from another

document into the contract. The exception to the requirement of special reference is where the referred document is not another contract, but a standard form of terms and conditions of trade associations or regulatory institutions which publish or circulate such standard terms and conditions for the benefit of the members or others who want to adopt the same…"

The distinction drawn by the Court between contracts and standard form terms is particularly important; and this distinction enabled to Court to distinguish its earlier judgments Atlas Export Industries v. Kotak & Co., (1999) 7 SCC 61 and Groupe Chimique Tunisien SA v. Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corporation Ltd., (2006) 5 SCC 275 on a principled basis