India has reduced the time period for foreign investors to seek international arbitration from five years to three years as part of the recently signed investment pact with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a departure from its model Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). Under the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism, if the Indian judicial system is unable to resolve a dispute within this shortened period, investors can resort to international arbitration. The investment pact, signed on February 13 in Abu Dhabi, came into force on August 31, replacing the previous pact.
ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) and Sony Pictures Networks India on Tuesday said they have settled their six-month-long dispute related to the failed $10-billion merger and have agreed to withdraw all claims against each other. As part of the "comprehensive non-cash settlement" between ZEEL and Culver Max Entertainment Pvt Ltd (CMEPL), both "have mutually agreed to withdraw all respective claims against each other, in the ongoing arbitration at the SIAC and all related legal proceedings initiated in the NCLT and other forums," said a joint statement.
The sources said India has always been a steadfast supporter and a responsible partner in implementing the IWT in letter and spirit.
India is increasingly a willing participant in the evolving US' Indo-Pacific strategy. While these developments are related to the perception of a growing Chinese security challenge, their implications for India's much-vaunted strategic autonomy should be a matter of deeper and closer reflection, asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
Vodafone further said it has "always been confident" that no tax is due on the company. The government in August enacted a law to end all retrospective taxation imposed on indirect transfer of Indian assets. The rules under the law seek to withdraw tax demands made using a 2012 retrospective legislation to tax the indirect transfer of Indian assets and also refund the amount paid in these cases without any interest. Asked if the company has filed an application with the Indian government to settle the retrospective tax dispute, a Vodafone spokesperson said, "We can confirm we have filed an application".
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to pass any order on a plea alleging that former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi made "scurrilous" remarks against former attorney general and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi in a social media post.
Choice of jurisdiction is important as that decides which country's law would apply in settlement of the dispute, says Sudipto Dey.
The arbitration of any court is legally binding and the government) can approach the Singapore high court.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would consider a joint request for mediation of low-cost airline SpiceJet and media baron Kalanithi Maran and his Kal Airways for amicably settling all pending disputes between them including the row over the share-transfer issue. A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices J K Maheshwari and Hima Kohli was apprised by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for SpiceJet, that there were three pending issues between the low-cost airline and Maran and out of these, one has been settled on July 29. Initially, Rohatgi sought four to six week time for settling all the issues between the parties.
The Supreme Court on Monday appointed former apex court judge Justice R V Raveendran as a mediator to settle the family property dispute involving businessman and former IPL head Lalit Modi and his mother Bina Modi. The apex court observed that counsel appearing for both sides agreed that they would go without any pre-condition and with an open mind to settle the dispute in mediation. "....We also think the issue can be resolved by way of mediation," a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said. "Accordingly, we appoint Justice R V Raveendran, a retired judge of this court, to mediate and settle the dispute," said the bench, also comprising justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli.
Recently, the government had appointed former Chief Justice of India R C Lahoti as arbitrator in the tax dispute case.
The Supreme Court has appointed its former judge P V Reddi to mediate the dispute between SpiceJet and its former promoter Kalinithi Maran, the airline said on Wednesday. The dispute dates back to 2015, when Maran sold his stake in SpiceJet of 58.46 per cent, or 50.4 million shares, to Ajay Singh for Rs 2 after the airline suffered financial trouble. A year later, Maran approached the Delhi high court, alleging a breach of agreement by Singh for not issuing him 189 million share warrants and preference shares despite Maran's Rs 679-crore infusion.
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The Indian government has paid Cairn Energy Plc Rs 7,900 crore to refund taxes it had collected to enforce a retrospective tax demand, ending a seven-year-old dispute that had tarred the country's image as an investment destination. The company, which is now known as Capricorn Energy PLC, in a statement said it has received "net proceeds of $1.06 billion", of which nearly 70 per cent will be returned to the shareholders. The tax department had used a 2012 legislation, which gave it powers to go back 50 years and slap capital gains levies wherever ownership had changed hands overseas but business assets were in India, to seek Rs 10,247 crore in taxes from Cairn.
The lack of mutually acceptable arbitrators has delayed the resolution of the two-and-a-half-year-old dispute between Reliance Industries Ltd and the government of India over the recovery of $2.376 billion worth of investment in the KG-D6 gas block.
Experts say Future group will look for an out-of-court settlement with help from Reliance in the Amazon matter.
The government is likely to file an appeal against the Cairn arbitration award contesting its sovereign rights to tax, sources said.
A robust dispute settlement system would help the government unlock tax revenues, and also aid ease of doing business.
India is in the process of filing an appeal against an arbitration panel asking it to return $1.2 billion to British oil firm Cairn Energy Plc, sources said on Wednesday. If enforcement proceedings are initiated, India is confident to address them and will strongly defend its interests, the sources said, adding it is open to a constructive settlement of tax disputes within the existing legal framework. India is in the process of filing an appeal in the Cairn's arbitration award case, they said, adding in this case, it was well within India's sovereign powers to redress the situation of Double Non-Taxation and tax abuse. Cairn chief executive Simon Thomson had last month met the then finance secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey to discuss the arbitration award.
Sanjay Kirloskar, promoter of Kirloskar Brothers, moves Supreme Court to enforce a family settlement signed in 2009.
A French court has ordered freezing of an Indian government property in Paris on a plea by Devas shareholders who are seeking to enforce a USD 1.3 billion arbitration award over a cancelled satellite contract, according to the court order copy.
Officials say telco still keen on process.
The government on Tuesday said it will allow setting up of world-class foreign universities in Gandhinagar's GIFT City, free from domestic regulations, to facilitate availability of skilled manpower in the financial services space. In addition, an international arbitration centre will be set up in the GIFT City for timely settlement of disputes under international jurisprudence, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the Union Budget for 2022-23. The centre could be on the lines of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, or the London Commercial Arbitration Centre.
The dispute arose after Nissan alleged that Tamil Nadu hadn't paid certain incentives under a 2008 agreement to set up a car plant at Oragadam, near Chennai.
Unfazed by the Supreme Court upholding winding up of the company, shareholders of Devas Multimedia will continue to seek seizure of Indian government assets abroad to collect $1.2 billion the firm has been awarded by arbitration tribunals for cancellation of a satellite deal but are open for talks to settle the issue, their counsel said. "The decision by the Supreme Court does not change anything. The Modi government and the Indian courts cannot rewrite the facts. "Their flimsy allegations of fraud will never stand up in courts outside of India," said Matthew D McGill, partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and lead counsel for several Devas' shareholders.
Britain's Cairn Energy Plc has dropped lawsuits against the Indian government and its entities in the US and other places and is in the final stages of withdrawing cases in Paris and the Netherlands to get back about Rs 7,900 crore that were collected from it to enforce a retrospective tax demand. As part of the settlement reached with the government to the seven-year old dispute over levy of back taxes, the company - which is now known as Capricorn Energy PLC - has initiated proceedings to withdraw lawsuits it had filed in several jurisdictions to enforce an international arbitration award which had overturned levy of Rs 10,247 crore retrospective taxes and ordered India to refund the money already collected. Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said Cairn on November 26 withdrew the lawsuit it had brought in Mauritius for recognition of the arbitration award and took similar measures in courts in Singapore, the UK and Canada.
For India to invoke "sovereign" or "state" immunity to safeguard its foreign assets, which are under threat of getting seized in the intensifying legal battle with Cairn Energy, may come with several riders. Experts point out that the Indian government has to first satisfy the French court that the properties or assets that are under consideration are being used to dispense the state's sovereign functions.
A New York court has paused Cairn Energy's pursuit of US assets of Air India for the recovery of $1.2 billion arbitral award, so as to allow the British firm to reach a settlement with the Indian government on the long drawn dispute. The New York district court delayed the tax suit to November 18, according to court documents reviewed by PTI. This follows Cairn Energy and Air India jointly asking the court to stay further proceedings in view of the fresh government enacting a fresh law to scrap retrospective taxation in the country.
The government has signed Bippas with 72 nations.
The world is full of family businesses that withered away with the passing of generations, creating much bitterness and ill will. Entire clans that used to be household names have become pale shadows of their once-mighty empires.
The Indian government has asked a federal court in Washington to dismiss Britain's Cairn Energy suit seeking enforcement of a $1.2 billion arbitral award, saying it had sovereign immunity under US law. Cairn had in May asked a US federal court to force Air India to pay a $1.26 billion arbitration award the firm had won in December. The government on August 13 filed a 'Motion to Dismiss' petition in the US District Court for the District of Colombia, saying it lacked subject matter jurisdiction in the dispute between Cairn and the Indian tax authority, according to a filing seen by PTI.
The mediation between the warring co-managing partners of India's largest law firm Amarchand Mangaldas, brothers Cyril and Shardul Shroff, was accepted by the Bombay high court on Wednesday. According to the terms of the arbitral award, the brothers have agreed to 'split and bifurcate into separate entities independently carrying on the profession of law'.
The size of bilateral trade is only $6 billion a year.
The government on Wednesday cleared two ordinances for speedy settlement of commercial disputes in the country, giving a fresh impetus to ease of doing business.
Kirloskar Brothers Ltd (KBL), led by Sanjay Kirloskar, on Tuesday accused four firms under his brothers Atul and Rahul of trying to "usurp" its legacy of 130 years and trying to mislead the public, which has been refuted by the other side. As the family feud simmers, KBL in a letter to capital markets regulator Sebi claimed that recent press releases by Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd (KOEL), Kirloskar Industries Ltd (KIL), Kirloskar Pneumatic Company Ltd (KPCL) and Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Ltd (KFIL) "have sought to usurp the legacy" of KBL. Also, they attempted to pass off the legacy and track record of KBL as that of their own, the letter said.
Chadha got 120 votes, the highest in the Asia Pacific group
Britain's Cairn Energy has secured a French court order to seize 20 Indian govt properties to recover arbitration award, it is learnt.
A bench headed by Justice H L Dattu, however, allowed the petitioner, former Additional Solicitor General Bishwajit Bhattacharyya, to file fresh petition with all the relevant documents stating what action Centre has so far been taken on the issue.
British oil firm Cairn Energy Plc on Tuesday said it has identified Indian sovereign assets overseas, which it can seize in the event of New Delhi failing to return over USD 1.7 billion that an international arbitration tribunal has ordered after rescinding a retrospective tax demand.
However, survey by Japanese firm shows India as most preferred Asian market for Japanese investors.
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