Facts/Background:

• The present case arises from a line of Supreme Court judgments addressing the interplay between Arbitration Agreements under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996 and the Indian Stamp Act of 1899:

1. In SMS Tea Estate Pvt. Ltd. v. Chandmari Tea Company Pvt. Ltd. (2011) 14 SCC 66, a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court held that an arbitration agreement in an unstamped contract could not be enforced.
2. In Garware Wall Ropes Ltd. v. Coastal Marine Constructions & Engg. Ltd. (2019) 9 SCC 209, a two-judge Bench, relied on SMS Tea Estates to rule that an unstamped arbitration agreement could not legally exist or be acted upon.
3. In Vidya Drolia v. Durga Trading Corporation (2021) 2 SCC 1, the Court cited paragraph 29 of Garware Wall Ropes, affirming that an arbitration agreement exists only if it is valid and legal.
4. In N N Global Mercantile (P) Ltd. v. Indo Unique Flame Ltd. (2021) 4 SCC 379 ("N N Global 1"), a three-judge Bench, led by Justice Indu Malhotra, ruled that an unstamped arbitration agreement is not invalid, unenforceable or non-existent as they are curable defect. The Bench questioned earlier rulings, including those in Garware Wall Ropes and Vidya Drolia, and referred the matter to a five-judge Bench.
5. The Constitution Bench in N N Global Mercantile (P) Ltd. v. Indo Unique Flame Ltd. (2023) 7 SCC 1 ("N N Global 2") upheld the views in SMS Tea Estates and Garware Wall Ropes, ruling that insufficiently stamped arbitration agreements are invalid. Hence, NN Global 1 was overturned by a 3:2 majority.
6. In Dharmaratnakara Rai Bahadur Arcot Narainswamy Mudaliar Chattram v. Bhaskar Raju and Brothers (2020) 4 SCC 612, the Supreme Court overturned a High Court’s referral to arbitration due to an insufficiently stamped lease deed. This ruling influenced Seka Dobric v. SA Eonsoftech Private Limited, Arbitration Petition No. 25 of 2023, leading to the arbitration petition being tagged alongside the curative petition in Bhaskar Raju.

• Addressing the above arbitration and curative petitions, the five-judge bench recognised the broader implications of N N Global 2. It referred the matter to a seven-judge Bench, renaming it “In Re: Interplay between the Arbitration Agreements under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 and the Indian Stamp Act 1899.”
  

Main Issue:

• Whether arbitration agreements in instruments that are unstamped or inadequately stamped are considered non-existent, unenforceable, or invalid? (Paragraph 1)