Mauritius As An Ideal Seat For Arbitration

In Desai v Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Land Transport Development & The State of Mauritius 2025 SCJ 277, the Supreme Court upheld a point of law which the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Land Transport Development ('Ministry') had raised. The Ministry argued that the Supreme Court was not the appropriate forum to resolve the dispute between Mr Desai and the Ministry and the State of Mauritius by reason of an arbitration clause in their contract.

Mr Desai, a professional architect, was awarded a global consultancy contract to refurbish the old Parliament House in Mauritius. As the works extended beyond the completion period, his services were extended to provide what were termed as 'additional resources' and 'supervisory services' for the additional period required to complete the refurbishment. Despite an agreement to pay him the amount of MUR 3,361,628.70 plus VAT (±USD 74261) for the extended period, the Ministry and the State of Mauritius failed