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The special court to hear Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases Monday advanced hearings to June 8 from August 19, after the ED approached it last week, citing “national importance”. On a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a special court has advanced by two months hearings in a case against start-up firm Devas Multimedia, which is embroiled in a legal battle with the Indian government over a failed 2005 satellite deal.
The special court to hear Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases Monday advanced hearings to June 8 from August 19, after the ED approached it last week, citing “national importance”. The agency told the court that the arbitration and compensation payment process initiated by Devas in foreign courts was causing embarrassment to the country.
Advocates for Devas Multimedia pleaded that hearings cannot begin since summons had not been served for appearance of Ramachandran Vishwanathan, the US-based CEO founder of the firm, and officials of Devas Multimedia America Inc, a US subsidiary of Devas, to which foreign investments were allegedly illegally diverted by the firm.
The special court however rejected Devas’s arguments.
On May 6, three Mauritius-based foreign investors in Devas had issued a notice to the Indian government, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking an amicable settlement of the dispute, while expressing intent to initiate fresh arbitration over alleged violation of a bilateral investment treaty with Mauritius, in the treatment of Devas.
The Mauritius investors also stated in the notice that Indian authorities were trying to evade the arbitration awards by various tribunals, over the failed deal between Devas and ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix.
On October 27, 2020, a US federal court had confirmed the 2014 arbitration award by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) for payment of $1.3 billion to Devas by Antrix Corp. The Mauritius investors said in the notice that, “On the same day that the US court confirmed the ICC award, India even purported to change its law, with retrospective effect, to allow award-debtors to stay arbitration enforcement proceedings without posting security on the basis of ‘prima facie’ fraud allegations — which Antrix promptly invoked.”
Separately, Deutsche Telekom, another foreign investor in the start-up, has moved a US court against the Indian government for confirmation of damages to the tune of over $100 million ordered by a Geneva arbitration court in May last year over the 2005 deal.
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