New York court pauses Cairn's tax suit against India
A New York court has paused Cairn Energy’s pursuit of US assets of Air India for the recovery of $1.2 billion arbitral award, so as to allow the British firm to reach a settlement with the Indian government on the long drawn dispute.
New Delhi: A New York court has paused Cairn Energy's pursuit of US assets of Air India for the recovery of $1.2 billion arbitral award, so as to allow the British firm to reach a settlement with the Indian government on the long drawn dispute. The New York district court delayed the tax suit to November 18, according to court documents reviewed by PTI. This follows Cairn Energy and Air India jointly asking the court to stay further proceedings in view of the fresh government enacting a fresh law to scrap retrospective taxation in the country.
The new law will result in withdrawal of the Rs 10,247 crore tax demand that the government had sought from Cairn. Sources with direct knowledge of the matter said the finance ministry is framing rules that will lead to withdrawal of the retrospective tax demand on Cairn and 16 other companies, including Vodafone Group of UK.
These rules require the companies to withdraw all litigations against the government in return for being refunded any money that was collected to force the retrospective tax demand. A format for the undertaking that the companies will have to furnish committing to withdraw litigations is under finalisation and should be released in coming days, they said.
