The Antrix Corporation-Devas Multimedia spat over the cancelled contract for two Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) satellites has come up before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague.
Between September 1 and 9, the Arbitration Tribunal is slated to hear the merits of the high-stakes litigation between a government and an overseas investor, as The Hindu reliably learns.
The compensation amount in this case is not specified; some legal reports put it at $ 1 billion. However, Devas in its second legal front being fought at the International Chamber of Commerce has claimed $1.6 billion (around Rs. 9,600 crore by current exchange rate) for breach of contract.
Devas’s three promoters approached the PCA in July 2012 after the then Manmohan Singh government cancelled the six-year-old contract in February 2011. They cited violation of a Bilateral Investment Protection Treaty between India and Mauritius and invoked international justice rules under UN Commission on International Trade Law.
According to informed people, this may be a decisive round of hearing; after this, the tribunal is expected to move on to the issue of damages, with a likely provision for an appeal by either side. This could not be immediately ascertained.
For the current hearing, the government is learnt to have sent a team of lawyers and about six senior officials to the Dutch seat of international justice, including three from the Department of Space.
It has hired New York-based international law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP to defend its case.
Senior officials of the ISRO excused themselves from confirming or discussing the latest development.
Last year, the then Union Minister of State in the PMO, V. Narayanasamy had told Parliament that on completion of merits hearing in early September 2014, “[T]he issue of damages would be taken up by the [Arbitration] Tribunal, as the need may be.”
