Kapil Sibal criticised for 'favouring' Vodafone tax conciliation

Newly-appointed Law Minister Kapil Sibal has been criticised by Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for allegedly favouring UK telecom giant Vodafone by clearing the decks for resolving its tax dispute out of court.

Sibal, who took over as the law minister after his Ashwani Kumar was removed for alleged impropriety, on Tuesday overturned Kumar's decision on the Vodafone tax liability and gave the go ahead for the matter to be resolved through conciliation.

The tax liability arose from Hutchinson's sale of their Indian telecom business to Vodafone in 2007, from which a capital gain of over 50,000 crore ensued.

"Within 24 hours of his (Kapil Sibal) assuming the charge of the law ministry, he reversed his predecessor's decision (Ashwani Kumar) by allowing an out-of-court settlement of Vodafone's tax liability worth Rs 11,217 crore," Kejriwal said on Wednesday.

Kejriwal accused Sibal of having a vested interest in this decision since his son Amit Sibal is the counsel for Hutchinson Telecommunications International, which had sold its Indian telecom business to Vodafone in 2007.

"Why does Kapil Sibal want an out-of-court settlement with Vodafone? Why did he reverse the decision of Ashwani Kumar, who was against this move," he added.

With inputs from IANS