Isro told to pay Devas $672 million in damages

[SRP]

New Delhi: An international tribunal has asked the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) to pay Bengaluru-based space technology firm Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd $672 million in damages for cancelling a contract four years ago on grounds of national security.

The ruling is a setback to Isro and the government, although the penalty is far short of the $1.6 billion Devas had sought in damages, calculated to include the value of its business, interest and costs, in the arbitration proceedings it initiated against Antrix Corporation Ltd, the commercial arm of Isro.

The ruling by the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) of the International Chamber of Commerce relates to a 28 January 2005 agreement between Devas and Antrix, under which Devas was to lease as much as 70Mhz of S-band spectrum from two satellites that were to be launched by Isro.

As part of the deal, Devas was to pay Antrix around $300 million for the right to use the spectrum for 12 years, extendable by an additional 12 years. Devas intended to use the spectrum to provide audio, video and broadband services using a mix of satellite and terrestrial technology.

The Cabinet Committee on Security called off the deal in 2011 after questions arose on whether the procedure followed by Antrix to allocate the airwaves was the most economically favourable possible for the exchequer. The committee scrapped the deal on the grounds that it was not in the security interests of the country.

The ruling will now have to be enforced by a court in India. For this purpose, a case has been registered in the Delhi high court and is expected to be listed for hearing on Wednesday.

The scrapping of the deal was seen as a fallout of the November 2010 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) that fueled what is now commonly referred to as the 2G spectrum scam. The report alleged that a flawed 2G spectrum allocation process followed by the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had led to a Rs1.76 trillion loss (in notional terms) to the exchequer.


Isro told to pay Devas $672 million in damages - Livemint

 

[topgun047]

UPA ki chutiyapanti ki sazaa ISRO ko.

 

[Hindustani78]

Antrix asked to pay Devas Rs. 4,435 cr. - The Hindu

Updated: September 30, 2015 17:43 IST
Antrix/ISRO was to build for Devas two two-tonne satellites with a special, unfurlable antenna
The Paris-based ICC Tribunal, looking into an arbitration case between former partners Antrix Corporation, the marketing arm of ISRO; and Devas Multimedia Corporation, has ruled that Antrix must pay Devas a compensation of $672 million (around Rs.4,435 crore) with interest for breach of their satellite contract, according to a statement issued by Devas on Tuesday.

The tribunal is an arm of the International Chamber of Commerce and deals with international commercial disputes. The lawyers for Devas initiated the process to secure the award, including interest at 18 per cent post-ruling, and filed a petition in the Delhi High court on Monday, the publicist for Devas said.



It was not immediately clear if Antrix can appeal the ruling. ISRO Chairman and Secretary Department of Space, A.S. Kiran Kumar, did not comment on the ruling against Antrix, which is governed by his department.

Antrix’s Chairman and Managing Director V.S. Hegde did not answer calls.

Devas took Antrix to the ICC, Paris, and the PCA at The Hague, after the government cancelled the contract for building two satellites for Devas, citing alleged irregularities in the deal.


****************

The costs of the arbitration include the fees and expenses of the arbitrators and ICC administrative costs fixed by the Court in accordance with the costs scales in force, as well as the fees and expenses of any experts appointed by the Arbitral Tribunal and the reasonable legal and other costs incurred by the parties for the arbitration.

Once the arbitrators' fees and expenses and ICC administrative costs have been fixed by the Court at the end of the proceedings, the Arbitral Tribunal fixes the costs of the arbitration in the Award and decides which of the parties shall bear them or in what proportion they shall be borne by the parties.



Arbitrators' fees
The arbitrators' fees are managed by the Court and fixed on the basis of the relevant scale found in Appendix III, taking into consideration the diligence of the arbitrators, the time spent, the rapidity of the proceedings and the complexity of the dispute. Based on the amount in dispute, the scale provides a minimum and a maximum for one arbitrator.

The fees are multiplied by the number of arbitrators. In exceptional circumstances the Court may fix the fees of the arbitrators at a figure higher or lower than that which would result from the application of the relevant scale. Where the sum in dispute is not stated, the Court fixes the arbitrators' fees at its discretion.

Amounts paid to arbitrators do not include any possible value added tax (VAT) or other taxes or charges and imposts applicable to the arbitrator’s fees. Parties have a duty to pay any such taxes or charges; however, the recovery of any such charges or taxes is a matter solely between the arbitrator and the parties.

 

[Karan Gulati]

Ask Sonia gandhi to pay from her own pocket

 

[Argon Prime]

Ask Sonia gandhi to pay from her own pocket

She doesn't wear pants or shirts you know.

 

[Hindustani78]

Facts:
Devas, an Indian company entered into an agreement, with Antrix, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Government of India. Under the agreement, Devas received a lifetime lease of 90 % of two satellites, built by Indian Space and Research Organization. The sheer magnitude of the spectrum allocated under the agreement raised issues as to whether the Indian armed forces will be left with sufficient amount of spectrum for their use and the issue culminated with Antrix terminating the agreement.

Devas instead of referring the matter to the senior management for resolution directly approached the ICC with a request to initiate arbitration. Further, Devas did not notify Antrix and unilaterally approached the ICC seeking the constitution of an arbitral tribunal in accordance with the ICC Rules and nominated its Arbitrator.

As a result, ICC wrote to Antrix inviting it to appoint its arbitrator. Instead of responding to the ICC letter, Antrix wrote to Devas insisting that the matter be resolved through a senior management meeting. The senior management meeting was held; however, Devas maintained that the ICC arbitration has already been invoked and the dispute should be resolved through the ICC arbitration. Subsequently, Antrix invoked arbitration under the UNICITRAL rules and asked Devas to nominate its arbitrator, as Devas had invoked the ICC arbitration unilaterally. ICC sent another letter to Antrix informing it that all the issues concerning jurisdiction will be decided by it. However, Antrix responded by filing an application under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”), seeking a direction to compel Devas to appoint its arbitrator. Antrix also prayed that the Court should uphold the validity of the UNICITRAL arbitration.

Ask Sonia gandhi to pay from her own pocket

What this case has to do with her ??

Published:July 31, 2015
The deal, which dates back to 2005 when the department of space portfolio was held by then PM Manmohan Singh, was later cancelled. The ED was already carrying out a probe under the Foreign Exchange Management Act into alleged irregularities in the deal.

After the CBI registered a case in March in connection with the deal, the ED sought details from it of the case against Devas Multimedia — a start-up promoted by a few former ISRO officials — and ISRO’s Antrix Corporation, to begin formal investigations under PMLA. The ED was looking into the flow of funds to the tune of Rs 578 crore from foreign investors into the relatively unknown company involved in the deal. -

 

[P.K.]

Indians need not worry since Modi is a Gujju.

Italian Madam will have to shell this dough out of her Swiss Kitty to save MMS a$$
.

If Modi can't recover this amount from the ISRO thieves then PM is not though enough.

 

[Srinivas]

are they trying to weaken ISRO??

 

[Hindustani78]

are they trying to weaken ISRO??

The ED was looking into the flow of funds to the tune of Rs 578 crore from foreign investors into the relatively unknown company involved in the deal. -

 

[Srinivas]

The ED was looking into the flow of funds to the tune of Rs 578 crore from foreign investors into the relatively unknown company involved in the deal. -

There is some thing fishy in this deal for sure !

 

[Hindustani78]

There is some thing fishy in this deal for sure !

The sheer magnitude of the spectrum allocated under the agreement raised issues as to whether the Indian armed forces will be left with sufficient amount of spectrum for their use and the issue culminated with Antrix terminating the agreement.

Antrix, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Government of India and Indian armed forces work for GoI.

 

[AyanRay]

ISRO doesn't have to pay unless an Indian court orders it to do so, so no worries for now.

 

[Supply&Demand]

ISRO doesn't have to pay unless an Indian court orders it to do so, so no worries for now.

But Indian court will most probably enforce it..It might lose credibility internationally if it does not.

 

[Hindustani78]

But Indian court will most probably enforce it..It might lose credibility internationally if it does not.

Come on.

Its all about National interest and ISRO wholly owned subsidiary of the Government of India.


Antrix to contest ICC ruling in court - The Hindu

Antrix Corporation, an arm of the Department of Space, said it would fight the huge compensation of Rs. 4,300 crore that it has been asked to pay Devas Multimedia P. Ltd. for breaching their old contract.

Reacting a day after Devas announced the award in its favour, Antrix said, “The ICC award against Antrix in the Devas case is shocking. Antrix, with the support of the Department of Space, is preparing to file in court its application for remedy.” The two companies, once collaborators, are embroiled in two international arbitrations after the Department of Space annulled a contract to build and launch two satellites for Devas. It cancelled the deal on the ground of irregularities in procedures while signing the contract and also national interest as it was a loss to the exchequer

The January 2005 contract was annulled in February 2011. On September 14, the arbitration tribunal of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce ruled that Antrix must pay Devas $672 million along with pre- and post-award interest of 18 per cent.

 

[Hindustani78]

Preparing to fight Devas legally: Isro chief

Prashanth G N, Bengaluru: Oct 09, 2015, DHNS:

Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar has said the organisation was looking at a legal response to the $672 million fine its commercial arm Antrix Corporation has been slapped with by the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) for terminating the contract with Devas MultiMedia on building two satellites with prime S-band spectrum.

When Deccan Herald asked Kumar on the sidelines of an Isro conference on Thursday as to how Isro would take up the issue, he said: “We will be taking the legal recourse. We are preparing a response.” Asked if the legal fight would be taken up in India or at the ICA, Kumar said: “It has to be in India.”

Isro has been forced to take the legal recourse as Antrix has lost the battle with Devas at the ICA. Legal experts have stated that Antrix did not take up the right legal strategies at the right time to win the case. The final award of the International Criminal Court shows that Antrix both failed to nominate an arbitrator to the arbitration tribunal and to have a say in fixing the terms of reference for the tribunal. Rather, it chose to petition the Supreme Court to commence a separate arbitration against Devas, an appeal that failed.
In June 2011, when Devas commenced arbitration seeking specific performance of the agreement or a claim of damages, Antrix refused to participate. On August 19, 2011, when the ICA announced its decision to go ahead with the arbitration, Antrix did not send its nomination, which forced the ICA to nominate, on its own, Justice A S Anand.

Antrix also did not participate in the initial proceedings to discuss terms of reference of the arbitration. Antrix hoped that the Supreme Court would give a favourable ruling on its plea that questioned the jurisdiction of the ICA. Besides, Antrix also raised concerns over the appointment of Michael Pryles as arbitrator.

Former Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair said: “Everything is shrouded in mystery. There could have been various other grounds on which Antrix could have terminated the contract, but why it chose to do so on the grounds that it did has to be answered. The unilateral termination of the contract and Antrix’s handling of the case legally at the international level has to be enquired into.”