Cairn Energy dispute: French court orders confiscation of 20 properties of Indian government
A French court has ordered Britain’s Cairn Energy Plc to confiscate around 20 Indian government assets in France to recover US$1.7 billion in damages. Sources have given this information.
On June 11, a French court ordered Cairn Energy to acquire Indian government properties, mostly flats; The legal process in this regard was completed on Wednesday.
An arbitration court in December ordered the Indian government to pay Cairn Energy more than $1.2 billion in interest and fines. The Government of India did not accept this order, after which Cairn Energy appealed in several courts abroad for recovery of dues by confiscating the assets of the Government of India.
Cairn Energy was the only company against which the government had taken retrospective action to levy tax. During the pendency of the case in the tribunal, the government sold Cairn’s five per cent stake in Vedanta Ltd, forfeited dividend of about Rs 1,140 crore and did not give tax refund of about Rs 1,590 crore. Apart from Cairn Energy, the government made similar tax demands from its subsidiary Cairn India (now part of Vedanta Limited).
