Summary

Introduction

The Appellant in this case had argued in the Singapore International Commercial Court (the "SICC") that an arbitral award (the "Award") against it, based upon a Letter of Guarantee (the "Guarantee Letter"), should be set aside for want of jurisdiction on the part of the Tribunal, or alternatively, on public policy grounds. Both arguments depended upon a contention that the Guarantee Letter underpinning the Award was a forgery.

The Appellant had not, in its defence in the arbitration, advanced any objection to the jurisdiction of the Tribunal based on an alleged forgery of the Letter. In Opening Submissions to the Tribunal, it had made clear that it was not alleging that the Guarantee Letter was a forgery (see Reliance Infrastructure Limited v Shanghai Electric Group Co Ltd [2024] SGHC(1) 3 (the "Judgment") at [25]).

The Appellant however relied upon fresh evidence in the SICC. The SICC found that the Appellant had waived any objection to jurisdiction, that public policy was not engaged and that, in any event, on the evidence, there was no forgery.

The Court dismissed the appeal against the SICC decision at the hearing on 31 July 2024 and deferred publication of its reasons. The reasons follow.

...