Supreme Court upholds order on winding-up of Devas Multimedia

legal

The Supreme Court on January 17 dismissed an appeal by Devas Multimedia against a winding-up order for the company.

The appeal was filed against the decision of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal which had upheld the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)’s decision to wind up the company.

The winding-up order from NCLT had come on a plea by the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Antrix Corporation. The insolvency court had observed that Devas appeared to have been incorporated with fraudulent intentions.

Devas and Antrix had entered into an agreement in 2005 for providing multimedia services to mobile users for which the satellite spectrum was to be provided by Antrix. The agreement was called off in 2011 which led to a long-drawn legal battle between the two entities.

The Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate had also started probing the then officials at Antrix who facilitated the agreement with Devas.

Devas’s foreign investors are also embroiled in an arbitration case with Antrix leading the suit to Canadian courts for enforcement of the award that was in favour of Devas.