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The Department of Telecom has asked foreign players, including Telenor, Sistema and Axiata, to give concrete proposals on resolving alleged 2G dispute under various bilateral treaties.
Invoking treaties
“The Government would like to reiterate its commitment to the provisions of the agreement and would welcome any efforts, in terms of the provisions of the agreement to amicably resolve any alleged dispute that may arise between the investor and the Government,” a draft letter to the foreign investors stated.
However, the DoT has taken a view that the alleged dispute had not arisen yet. The foreign investors have invoked foreign bilateral treaties to protect their investments after the Supreme Court cancelled the licences issued in January 2010.
The DoT has taken a view that this judgment applies fairly to all companies, including Indian.
“There is no discriminatory policy or practice being applied against foreign investors. All the issues related to licensing are being dealt with as per the law of the land on fair and equitable basis,” the letter stated.
None of the legal notices issued by the foreign players has categorically stated how the alleged dispute can be resolved.
“The Government of India requests you to indicate your proposals to discuss for amicable resolution of alleged dispute,” the draft letter seen by Business Line stated.
Legal team
Meanwhile, a number of international legal experts have approached the DoT offering their consultancy.
The DoT is putting together a legal team to handle the case arising out of the bilateral treaties in case negotiations fail.
In addition, the Government is readying a blueprint to change the rules of engagement under bilateral investment treaties.
Under the new plan, the Government wants to ring-fence itself from litigation by making it clear that the foreign investor cannot claim protection under the various Bilateral Investment and Protection Agreements on issues related to taxation, indirect foreign shareholders and minority stakeholders.
An inter-ministerial panel has been constituted to go through all the 82 bilateral treaties signed by India and identify areas that could put India on the back-foot legally. The panel will first review the treaties still in the drafting stage.
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