NEW DELHI: It all started with the signing of a satellite deal in 2005 between Isro’s commercial arm, Antrix, and Bengaluru-based startup Devas Multimedia.
The controversial deal was later canceled and the decade-long legal battle between Antrix and Devas ended in the Supreme Court on Monday (January 1, 2022), which ordered the startup liquidated.
Here is a timeline of the case:
January 2005: An agreement between Antrix Corporation and Devas was signed under which Antrix agreed to build, launch and operate two satellites and lease 90% of the capacity of the satellite transponder to the Bengaluru-based company, which had planned to use it for offer hybrid satellite and terrestrial communication. services all over India.
The deal included 70 MHz of S-band spectrum (generally restricted to use by security forces and government telecom entities like MTNL and BSNL), priced at Rs 1,000 crore.
A news report claimed that the deal could have resulted in a loss of more than Rs 2 lakh crore to the Treasury.
February 2011: The UPA government led by Manmohan Singh canceled the deal citing “security reasons” after allegations that the contract was a “quid pro quo” or an amicable settlement were found. G Madhavan Nair was then chairman of Isro.
August 2016: Former Isro chief G Madhavan Nair and other senior officials have been charged by the CBI on charges of facilitating an “unjustified” gain of Rs 578 crore from Devas.
September 2017: The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) awarded Devas $1.3 billion in compensation after foreign investors appealed to Devas.
June 2019: The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) tribunal has found that India breached Germany’s bilateral investment treaty in an arbitration initiated by Devas’ foreign shareholder, Deutsche Telekom AG.
January 2020: Three Mauritian entities CC/Devas (Mauritius) Ltd, Devas Employees Mauritius Pvt Ltd and Telcom Devas Mauritius Ld, which held a 37.5% stake in Devas, sought confirmation of the UNCITRAL order in the US District Court of Columbia.
October 2020: The US federal court for the Western District of Washington upheld the ICC award ordering Antrix to pay Devas $1.2 billion.
November 2020: India’s Supreme Court stayed the US court’s order and ordered the Delhi High Court to hear arguments against enforcing the sentence.
January 2021: The Department of Corporate Affairs ordered Antrix to file for liquidation against Devas under the Companies Act.
NLCT granted Antrix’s motion against Devas and appointed a provisional liquidator.
September 2021: NCLAT confirmed NCLT’s order to liquidate Devas Multimedia.
Nov-Dec 2021: In two separate orders, a Canadian court in Quebec has authorized the seizure of assets belonging to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Air India (AI) held with global airline body IATA after the Devas investors filed a lawsuit against the Indian government for breach of bilateral treaty by voiding the deal.
January 8, 2022: The Canadian court overturned its own order and lifted the suspension of the freezing of IATA’s assets belonging to IATA. In the second order, the court changed its own decision and allowed only 50% of IA’s assets owned by IATA to be taken over by Devas investors.
January 17, 2022: The Supreme Court of India upheld NCLAT’s verdict on the liquidation of Devas by dismissing the company’s appeal against the court and called the deal “infected with the poison of fraud”.
The controversial deal was later canceled and the decade-long legal battle between Antrix and Devas ended in the Supreme Court on Monday (January 1, 2022), which ordered the startup liquidated.
Here is a timeline of the case:
January 2005: An agreement between Antrix Corporation and Devas was signed under which Antrix agreed to build, launch and operate two satellites and lease 90% of the capacity of the satellite transponder to the Bengaluru-based company, which had planned to use it for offer hybrid satellite and terrestrial communication. services all over India.
The deal included 70 MHz of S-band spectrum (generally restricted to use by security forces and government telecom entities like MTNL and BSNL), priced at Rs 1,000 crore.
A news report claimed that the deal could have resulted in a loss of more than Rs 2 lakh crore to the Treasury.
February 2011: The UPA government led by Manmohan Singh canceled the deal citing “security reasons” after allegations that the contract was a “quid pro quo” or an amicable settlement were found. G Madhavan Nair was then chairman of Isro.
August 2016: Former Isro chief G Madhavan Nair and other senior officials have been charged by the CBI on charges of facilitating an “unjustified” gain of Rs 578 crore from Devas.
September 2017: The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) awarded Devas $1.3 billion in compensation after foreign investors appealed to Devas.
June 2019: The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) tribunal has found that India breached Germany’s bilateral investment treaty in an arbitration initiated by Devas’ foreign shareholder, Deutsche Telekom AG.
January 2020: Three Mauritian entities CC/Devas (Mauritius) Ltd, Devas Employees Mauritius Pvt Ltd and Telcom Devas Mauritius Ld, which held a 37.5% stake in Devas, sought confirmation of the UNCITRAL order in the US District Court of Columbia.
October 2020: The US federal court for the Western District of Washington upheld the ICC award ordering Antrix to pay Devas $1.2 billion.
November 2020: India’s Supreme Court stayed the US court’s order and ordered the Delhi High Court to hear arguments against enforcing the sentence.
January 2021: The Department of Corporate Affairs ordered Antrix to file for liquidation against Devas under the Companies Act.
NLCT granted Antrix’s motion against Devas and appointed a provisional liquidator.
September 2021: NCLAT confirmed NCLT’s order to liquidate Devas Multimedia.
Nov-Dec 2021: In two separate orders, a Canadian court in Quebec has authorized the seizure of assets belonging to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Air India (AI) held with global airline body IATA after the Devas investors filed a lawsuit against the Indian government for breach of bilateral treaty by voiding the deal.
January 8, 2022: The Canadian court overturned its own order and lifted the suspension of the freezing of IATA’s assets belonging to IATA. In the second order, the court changed its own decision and allowed only 50% of IA’s assets owned by IATA to be taken over by Devas investors.
January 17, 2022: The Supreme Court of India upheld NCLAT’s verdict on the liquidation of Devas by dismissing the company’s appeal against the court and called the deal “infected with the poison of fraud”.
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