Tatas move London Court to set aside ex-parte order by NTT

Locked in a USD 1.17 billion payment dispute with estranged partner NTT DoCoMo, Tata Group today approached a London court seeking annulment of an ex-parte order obtained by the Japanese firm for enforcement of the arbitral award against the Indian company.

"Tata Sons has today filed an application to set aside an ex-parte order obtained by NTT DoCoMo from London's Commercial Court on July 25th, 2016," Tata Sons said in a statement.

DoCoMo had approached the London's Commercial Court seeking enforcement of London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) award against the Tatas for breach of contractual obligations pertaining to a shareholders' dispute in Tata Teleservices.

Sources said that following the ex-parte order from London's Commercial Court in July, Tata Sons were granted some time to file their application to set aside the ex-parte order.

The London Court of International Arbitration in June had ordered Tata Sons to pay DoCoMo USD 1.17 billion in compensation for breaching an agreement on India JV.

"Tata Sons' position is that it is not permitted to pay the sum claimed by DoCoMo pursuant to the award, since regulatory approval by India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which is necessary for performance of the award, has been denied," Tata Sons statement said.

In absence of such approval, enforcement of the award would be "unlawful under applicable Indian law and contrary to public policy", the statement added.

Tata Sons further said it has always been committed to honouring its contractual obligations within the framework of Indian law.

"In recent weeks, the company has been disappointed with the lack of cooperation from DoCoMo in arriving at an amicable resolution by jointly engaging with the Indian Government and the Regulator on the issue," Tata Sons said.