News Desk, AnyTV, New Delhi
Published by: Abhishek Dixit
Updated Sun, 20 Feb 2022 08:46 PM IST
Summary
Justice Christine Bauduin of the Canadian Court of Appeals, in a February 11 decision, agreed to Air India’s appeal that the court should re-examine the claims of three Mauritius-based investors and Germany’s Deutsche Telekom that the airlines belonged to the Indian government and were therefore recovery should be made.
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Air India has secured the nod to appeal to a court in Quebec, Canada against the order of Dewas Multimedia to forfeit funds to foreign investors. A Canadian court had allowed Devas to confiscate the funds to seek compensation for the cancellation of the satellite deal with Antrix Corporation. Antrix Corporation is a commercial company of ISRO.
Justice Christine Bauduin of the Canadian Court of Appeals, in a February 11 decision, agreed to Air India’s appeal that the court should re-examine the claims of three Mauritius-based investors and Germany’s Deutsche Telekom that the airlines belonged to the Indian government and were therefore recovery should be made. “Without expressing my opinion on the merits or likelihood of success of the appeal, I am satisfied that the matter should be brought to the court,” he said. He has fixed May 13 for hearing the matter.
Air India has appealed to foreign investors to reject Dewas’ demand, saying it is no longer a state-owned company after its acquisition by the Tata group on January 27, 2022. In 2005, during the UPA government, an agreement was signed between Antrix and Dewas, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), for spectrum usage. The deal was canceled in 2011 on the grounds that the auction of broadband spectrum was fraudulent and that the government needed S-band satellite spectrum for national security and other social purposes.
Thereafter, Dewas Multimedia initiated arbitration proceedings against the decision in the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC). Besides, two other arbitration proceedings were also initiated by the investors of Dewas. India lost in all three cases and was asked to pay a total of $1.29 billion to compensate for the loss.
A Canadian court has allowed the shareholders of Devas Multimedia to forfeit 50 per cent of Air India’s funds, which were held with global airlines body IATA. Apart from this, a French court has also allowed Dewas to confiscate Indian properties in Paris.