HYDERABAD: Can a foreign investor bypass mandatory mediation in Indian commercial courts? The Telangana High Court is set to decide this question after reserving orders in a revision petition challenging an exemption granted to the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority, a UAE-based entity.
A division bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising justices Moushumi Bhattacharya and Gadi Praveen Kumar, heard a Civil Revision Petition against an order passed on January 28 by the Commercial Court in Hyderabad. The order had allowed Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority to skip mandatory pre-institution mediation under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, in a commercial suit filed in 2026.
The petitioners before the high court are the defendants in the original suit, while the UAE-based authority is the plaintiff. The defendants have questioned the Commercial Court’s decision to exempt the plaintiff from mediation in a suit seeking declaration and perpetual injunction.
During the hearing, counsel for the petitioners sought a stay on proceedings in an interlocutory application pending before the Commercial Court. The request was opposed by the plaintiff’s counsel.
After hearing both sides, the Bench noted that pleadings in the interlocutory application were almost complete and held that there was no need to halt the proceedings. However, it directed that while the Commercial Court may continue hearing the application, it should not pass any order until the high court decides the revision petition. The case has now been reserved for orders.