{"id":33672,"date":"2020-09-26T07:40:36","date_gmt":"2020-09-26T02:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kashmir.today\/?p=33672"},"modified":"2020-09-26T07:40:36","modified_gmt":"2020-09-26T02:10:36","slug":"vodafone-wins-international-arbitration-against-india-in-%e2%82%b914200-crore-tax-dispute-case-at-international-court-of-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/?p=33672","title":{"rendered":"Vodafone wins international arbitration against India in \u20b914,200-crore tax dispute case at International Court of Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

REUTERS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British telecom giant moved the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2016.<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Vodafone Group Plc said on Friday that it had won an international arbitration case against the Indian government, ending one of the most high-profile disputes in the country involving a $2 billion tax claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

An international arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled that India\u2019s imposition of a tax liability on Vodafone, as well as interest and penalties, were in a breach of an investment treaty agreement between India and the Netherlands, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India had claimed a total of \u20b9279 billion ($3.79 billion), including about $2 billion in tax, as well as interest and penalties, one of the sources said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The tribunal, in its ruling, said the government\u2019s demand is in breach of \u201cfair and equitable treatment\u201d and it must cease seeking the dues from Vodafone. It also directed India to pay 4.3 million pounds ($5.47 million) to the company as compensation for its legal costs, one of the sources added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vodafone said in a statement the amount of the award was confidential. Shares in the company’s India unit, Vodafone Idea , ended 13% higher on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe tribunal held that any attempt by India to enforce the tax demand would be a violation of India\u2019s international law obligations,\u201d Vodafone said in its statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India\u2019s Finance Ministry said it would carefully study the award, together with its lawyers. \u201cAfter such consultations, the government will consider all options and take a decision on further course of action including legal remedies,\u201d the Ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cVodafone has finally got justice, first from the Indian Supreme Court and now from an international arbitral tribunal,\u201d said Anuradha Dutt, senior partner at DMD Advocates, an Indian law firm representing the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruling brings an end to one of the most controversial disputes in India under international treaty agreements that it enters into with countries to protect foreign investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

India is entangled in more than a dozen such cases against companies, including Cairn Energy, over retrospective tax claims and cancellation of contracts. The exchequer could end up paying billions of dollars in damages if it loses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To reduce future arbitration claims, India has ended such agreements with over 50 countries and is working on a new law to protect foreign investors by offering relief from possible policy changes even as it upholds the right to tax them, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Vodafone\u2019s tax dispute stems from its $11 billion deal to buy the Indian mobile assets from Hutchison Whampoa in 2007. The government said Vodafone was liable to pay taxes on the acquisition, which the company contested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, India\u2019s top court ruled in favour of the telecom provider but the government changed the rules to enable it to tax deals that had already been concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

REUTERS The British telecom giant moved the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2016. Vodafone Group Plc said on Friday that it had won an international arbitration case against the Indian government, ending one of the most high-profile disputes in the country involving a $2 billion tax claim. An international arbitration tribunal in The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}