HC asks Unitech to respond to plea of Telenor

The Delhi High Court today asked Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd to respond to its estranged partner Telenor Asia Pte Ltd's plea against the Company Law Board's decision, which has allowed them to settle their dispute over control and transfer of their assets through arbitration.

"File a short affidavit on maintainability within three weeks. Come up for July 18," Justice Manmohan Singh said while deciding to hear the petition of Norwegian firm Telenor.

The multinational telecom firm has moved the high court against the decision of Company Law Board (CLB) which allowed the plea of its estranged joint venture partner Unitech to have their disputes settled through arbitration in Singapore.

The CLB, in its decision, had said the Norwegian firm went "berserk" in filing its petition to oust its partner Unitech after the Supreme Court cancelled telecom licences of their joint venture.

The panel had held that only an arbitrator could decide if the 'Share Subscription Agreement' and the 'Share Holders Agreement' had been vitiated or not.

The Supreme Court had in February this year held that the process of allocating 122 2G licenses including those of Uninor was 'arbitrary and unconstitutional' and had cancelled them.

During the hearing today, counsel for Telenor said the CLB order was not sustainable in the eyes of law.

Unitech, however, opposed the plea saying it was not maintainable at all as the arbitration proceedings is pending in Singapore following the CLB decision.

The foreign firm, in its petition, sought quashing of the CLB's April 12 decision and to issue direction to the panel to adjudicate the matter on merits in a time-bound manner.