In a big relief to Antrix Corporation, the High Court of Delhi on Monday set aside an arbitration award against Isro's commercial arm in which it was asked to pay damages of $562 million with interest to Bengaluru-based startup Devas Multimedia for a satellite deal cancelled in 2011.
The High Court held that "the impugned award suffers from patent illegalities & fraud, & is in conflict with the public policy of India".
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva of the Delhi HC set aside an arbitration award against Isro's commercial arm Antrix Corporation in which it was asked to pay damages of $562 million with interest to Devas Multimedia. The HC set aside the arbitration award after allowing the plea of Antrix filed under the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, challenging the arbitral order by the tribunal constituted by the ICC on the claim of Devas.
Devas & its foreign investors have been using this arbitration award to seize assets of the Government of India & Antrix abroad, including attaching a Paris apartment belonging to the Indian deputy chief of mission, seizing $87,457 in cash that Antrix held in the US, & taking partial rights over funds maintained by India in Canada.
Antrix spokesperson Chinmoy Roy told the news agency, "Truth has prevailed. In all likelihood, the court order will also put to rest the frivolous award enforcement action initiated against Antrix by Devas across the globe."
"Delhi HC has now re-affirmed, inter alia, that Devas had obtained the contract by fraud, did not possess necessary licences, did not have the necessary intellectual property rights (IPRs) & that investments & remittances by Devas were in violation of regulatory norms," said Antrix.
The High Court also referred to a Jan 17, 2022 Judgment of the Apex Court that held that the very seeds of the commercial relationship between Antrix & Devas were a product of fraud perpetrated by Devas & thus every part of the plant that grew out of those seeds, such as the agreement, the disputes & arbitral awards are all infected with the poison of fraud.
As per an agreement in Jan 2005, Antrix had agreed to build, launch & operate 2 satellites & make available 70 MHz of S-band spectrum to Devas, which the latter planned to use to offer hybrid satellite & terrestrial communication services throughout India.
However, Manmohan Singh-led UPA Govt had terminated the Antrix-Devas agreement in Feb 2011 after reports of manipulations & fraud emerged.
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