Anti-suit relief: appropriate orders in anti-suit cases

The decision of Andrew Smith J in Mercuria Energy Trading Pte Ltd and Another v Image Mine Products Ltd [2015] EWHC 2930 (Ch) is a relatively straightforward one, granting a permanent anti-suit injunction and allied declaratory relief to the claimant in a case where the defendant had – in breach of the arbitration clause – commenced judicial proceedings in India. The fact that the Indian court was seised of the proceedings was of no weight, and indeed the only real issue was the appropriate wording and scope of the injunction and declarations.

Mercuria : the facts