STF na MÃdia - MyClipp
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STF na MÃdia - MyClipp
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Business Line/ - Markets, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012<br />
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Supreme Court)<br />
Vodafone serves arbitration notice on<br />
Indian Govt over new tax plan<br />
Vodafone has served on the Government of India a<br />
notice of dispute under the India-Netherlands<br />
investment treaty, in the latest escalation of the<br />
controversy over proposals in the Fi<strong>na</strong>nce Bill,<br />
2012.The move e<strong>na</strong>bles Vodafone commence<br />
inter<strong>na</strong>tio<strong>na</strong>l arbitration proceedings should the<br />
yet-to-be-e<strong>na</strong>cted legislation get passed. The<br />
proposals "violate the inter<strong>na</strong>tio<strong>na</strong>l legal protections<br />
granted to Vodafone and other inter<strong>na</strong>tio<strong>na</strong>l investors<br />
in India," the company said in a statement on<br />
Tuesday.The notice was the "first step required prior to<br />
the commencement of inter<strong>na</strong>tio<strong>na</strong>l arbitration," a<br />
London-based spokesperson for Vodafone told<br />
Business Line. If e<strong>na</strong>cted, the proposals would have<br />
"serious consequences for Vodafone," they said. "We<br />
have called on India to either abandon or suitably<br />
amend the tax proposals.""We are happy to meet and<br />
explain our position, however if legislation as it is<br />
currently crafted becomes law then we will do<br />
whatever it takes to protect ourselves and our<br />
shareholders, including commencing inter<strong>na</strong>tio<strong>na</strong>l<br />
arbitration," the spokesperson said.The notice has<br />
been issued by Vodafone Inter<strong>na</strong>tio<strong>na</strong>l Holdings BV,<br />
the Dutch subsidiary of the British telecom giant under<br />
the Bilateral Investment Treaty between India and the<br />
Netherlands. Vodafone contends that the changes<br />
included in the Fi<strong>na</strong>nce Bill breached certain<br />
obligations of the Indian government, including giving<br />
investors fair and equitable treatment, and not denying<br />
justice to investors."The proposed legislation would<br />
also countermand the verdict of the Indian Supreme<br />
Court in January 2012, which ruled that Vodafone had<br />
no liability to account for withholding tax on its<br />
acquisition of indirect interests in Hutchison Essar<br />
Limited in 2007," the company said.Clarifying how the<br />
procedure would work should the company proceed<br />
with arbitration, the spokesperson said this would<br />
involve a panel of three arbitrators deciding on the<br />
matter in a neutral country, based on general<br />
inter<strong>na</strong>tio<strong>na</strong>l principles.The day before the Vodafone<br />
announcement, the Commerce and Industries Minister,<br />
Mr A<strong>na</strong>nd Sharma, on a visit to London, reiterated the<br />
government's position, <strong>na</strong>mely that the Fi<strong>na</strong>nce Bill<br />
proposals amounted to "clarificatory amendments" and<br />
that they were not intended to be "Vodafone<br />
specific."Our New Delhi Bureau adds:The Fi<strong>na</strong>nce<br />
Ministry today said that it has not as yet received the<br />
notice of dispute reported to have been served on the<br />
Indian Government by Vodafone in the matter of the<br />
controversial retrospective amendment proposed in<br />
the Fi<strong>na</strong>nce Bill 2012."I am yet to see the notice, then<br />
only can I give my view on it", said Mr R. Gopalan,<br />
Economic Affairs Secretary. Echoing this view, the<br />
Fi<strong>na</strong>nce Secretary, Mr R. S. Gujral, said, on the<br />
sidelines of a CII event: "We are in no position to talk<br />
about it as we are yet to see the<br />
notice."vidya.ram@thehindu.co.inkrsrivats@thehindu.c<br />
o.in<br />
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