Japanese auto-maker Nissan today informed the Madras High Court that there was a possibility of an amicable settlement between the Tamil Nadu government and the company as talks had commenced between the two sides.
"As a step forward, the Tamil Nadu government has initiated talks with us. As of now, the subjects of the talks are kept confidential," senior counsel P S Raman, appearing for the company, submitted.
Raman requested the court to defer the hearing of the state government's plea to stall the international arbitration proceedings initiated by Nissan.
The matter came up before the bench of Justice Anitha Sumanth today.
As no one represented the state when the plea was taken up for hearing, the judge said she wanted to know the government's stand as it might throw some light on the latest development in the issue.
The court then posted the matter to March 21 for the appearance of the advocate-general.
In December last year, the Tamil Nadu government had moved the high court, seeking an interim injunction against Nissan from proceeding with its arbitration against India over alleged unpaid tax refunds of nearly USD 770 million.
The state had alleged that Nissan invoked the international arbitration clause of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Japan to "coerce the Tamil Nadu government".
However, the Centre had filed an affidavit, saying the Tamil Nadu government did not have a locus standi to challenge the international arbitration proceedings initiated by Nissan against India.
After various rounds of hearings, the case was listed today for the parties to argue on the maintainability of the application.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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