Bombay High Court rules in favor of IMAX in decades-long dispute with E-City; authorizes execution of rewards of more than $28 million; imposes Rs. 5 lakh costs: Bollywood News
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 US$28 million with accrued interest.
Bombay High Court rules in favor of IMAX in decades-long dispute with E-City; authorizes execution of rewards of more than $28 million; imposes Rs. 5 lakh costs
On December 30, 2025, the Bombay High Court ruled in favor of IMAX on all issues in an enforcement proceeding that IMAX has been pursuing for almost 18 years, holding that arbitral awards rendered in favor of IMAX between 2006 and 2008 “shall henceforth be considered judgments of the court and enforceable.”
The arbitration stems from a disagreement over a September 2000 contract to lease six IMAX systems to E-City, the former operator of the cinema and entertainment brands Fun Cinemas and Fun Republic, and a subsidiary of the Essel Group, led by Subhash Chandra, and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. E-City agreed to open a minimum of six IMAX locations in India, but later reneged on that deal.
In its ruling, the High Court wrote: “E-City has managed to keep IMAX at bay for over two decades. The fruits of foreign awards are being denied to IMAX by raising all sorts of pleas, in the fervent hope that at least some might stay. Neither is India’s public policy nor the bias in favor of law enforcement, which informs the interpretation of the provisions of Part II of the Act. [Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996] dealing with the enforcement of specific foreign awards, promotes frustration with the enforcement of foreign awards based on such arguments.
The Court also imposed a fee of Rs. 5 lakhs on E-City, payable within four weeks to IMAX, citing the protracted and speculative litigation approach.
The court also ordered the parties to appear before the execution court on January 19, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. so that the execution process can move forward.
For IMAX, the order is a clear signal that long-pending foreign arbitral awards will not be able to remain only on paper and that accountability, even after decades, can still be enforced by the courts.
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