Post Centre-Cairn settlement, Devas to pursue enforcement of $1.2 bn arbitral award

Devas Multimedia shareholders have said that they will keep pursuing the implementation of the $1.3 billion arbitral award won against Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2015. 

They added that the reports of a $1 billion settlement between the government and the UK-based Cairn Energy PLC were encouraging. The stakeholders, however, stated that the Centre "must pay all its debts."

Also Read: Cairn, Devas lawsuits to not impact Air India disinvestment: Govt

"Not 'a few', not 'some'. Until then, Devas will continue to pursue full payment in courts around the world," Jay Newman, senior advisor to Devas shareholders told the Economic Times while responding to the reports of Cairn accepting the government's offer of a $1 billion refund resulting from the scrapping of a retrospective tax law.

Stakeholders of Devas are presently pursuing cases in numerous courts worldwide, comprising those in the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), to push India to pay them $1.3 billion in damages for terminating a 2005 agreement to build two communication satellites that would offer hybrid satellite and terrestrial communication services across India.

Devas was the second company after Cairn Energy to move a New York court earlier this year to seize Air India's assets in the US, as restitution for India's failure to honour the arbitration award.

Cairn Energy had on Tuesday said it will drop litigations to seize Indian properties in countries ranging from France to the US, within a couple of days of getting a $1 billion refund.

The offer to return money seized to enforce retrospective tax demand in lieu of dropping all litigations against the government "is acceptable to us," Cairn CEO Simon Thomson told PTI.

Also Read: Cairn accepts $1 bn refund offer, to drop litigations against India: CEO