IMAX Corporation has achieved victory in the Bombay High Court in a decades-long contract dispute with E-City Entertainment, for awards now amounting to more than $28 million USD with accumulated interest.
Bombay High Court rules in favour of IMAX in decades-long dispute with E-City; clears execution of $28+ million awards; imposes Rs. 5 lakh costs
On December 30, 2025, the Bombay High Court ruled in IMAX’s favour on all issues in an enforcement proceeding that IMAX has been prosecuting for nearly 18 years, holding that arbitration awards issued in IMAX’s favour between 2006 and 2008 “shall now be deemed to be the decrees of the court and executable”.
The arbitration stemmed from a disagreement over a September 2000 contract to lease six IMAX systems to E-City, the former operator of cinema and entertainment brands Fun Cinemas and Fun Republic, and an affiliate of the Essel Group, headed by Subhash Chandra, and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. E-City agreed to open a minimum of six IMAX locations in India, but subsequently reneged on that agreement.
In its ruling, the High Court wrote, “E-City has managed to keep IMAX at bay for over two decades. The fruits of the foreign awards are being denied to IMAX by raising all kinds of pleas, in the fond hope that at least some might stick. Neither the public policy of India nor the pro-enforcement bias, which informs the interpretation of the provisions under Part II of the [Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996] dealing with the enforcement of specific foreign awards, promotes the frustration of enforcement of foreign awards based upon such pleas.”
The Court also imposed a cost of Rs. 5 lakhs on E-City, payable within four weeks to IMAX, citing the prolonged and speculative litigation approach.
The court also directed the parties to appear before the executing court on January 19, 2026, at 11:00 am so the execution process can move forward.
For IMAX, the order is a clear signal that long-pending foreign arbitration awards will not be allowed to remain only on paper, and that accountability, even after decades, can still be enforced through the courts.
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