Twitter feeds and television channels reported that the Supreme Court on Friday
in a majority verdict has upheld
Vodafone International Holdings BV's contention that the
Income Tax department did not have jurisdiction over a $11.2 billion deal in May 2007 in which the British group acquired Hutchison Telecommunications International as part of a complex transaction to buy the latter's majority stake in its Indian telecom business. The Indian unit, called Hutchison Essar then, is today named Vodafone Essar.
The verdict has asked the tax department to return the Rs 2,500 crore that Vodafone had submitted as interim tax liability.
The verdict sets aside the uncertainty over the
tax claim on Vodafone , as also companies involved in such transactions, but in future similar deals may come under the ambit of the proposed Direct Tax Code (DTC), which is being currently debated in Parliament. It taxes similar deals subject to certain conditions.
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