Mumbai: Tata Sons filed an application on Monday to set aside an ex-parte order obtained by NTT Docomo from London’s Commercial Court on July 25, 2016.
Docomo has sought enforcement of a London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) arbitration award dated June 22, 2016, made in a shareholders dispute between Tata Sons and Docomo in relation to Docomo’s shareholding in Tata Teleservices.
Tata Sons’ maintains that it is not permitted to pay the sum claimed by Docomo since regulatory approval by RBI, which is necessary for performance of the award, has been denied. It said in the absence of such approval, enforcement of the award would be unlawful under applicable Indian law and contrary to public policy.
The legal effect of this refusal by the RBI would however be determined by the Delhi high court where Tata Sons had deposited on July 30, 2016 the entire amount of $1.17 billion claimed by DoCoMo with the court registrar. Tata Sons said it was disappointed with the lack of co-operation from Docomo in arriving at an amicable resolution by jointly engaging with the Indian government and the regulator on the issue.
Docomo “is unfortunately confusing Tata Sons’ intent to pay with what is legally payable by the company; Tata Sons’ intent is to pay but within the confines of the law,” it said.
