In a significant win for the Indian government-owned space corporation, Antrix, Ninth Circuit Court, the second-highest appellate court in the United States, , has reversed the confirmation of the $1.3-billion ICC order, which was previously in enforcement.
This is the second win for Antrix in less than a month; on July 18, the Hague Court in Netherlands blocked the enforcement of the ICC award, posted by Devas’ American investors, recognising that Devas was fraudulently incorporated.
In this case, the San Francisco-based court reversed the confirmation, stating that the District Court of Seattle, which had confirmed the award, had erred in doing so. It ruled that the District court at Seattle erred in exercising personal jurisdiction over Antrix, when it had claimed immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976. Subsequently, the District Court of Seattle’s November 4, 2020, judgment has been completely reversed and, in a cascading causal effect, Devas’ shareholders’ various attempts to claim the award in different jurisdictions have been completely nullified.
For instance Devas’ shareholders sought registration of the ICC award in the District Court of Eastern Virginia, and had attached $87,457.47 to be claimed. These were dues owed by Antrix to Intelsat (a satellite company in the US). Claiming this amount has been nullified as a result of the Ninth Circuit Court’s August 1 judgment.
Essentially, all the orders passed against Antrix in the US have been nullified by the effect of this Ninth Circuit Court Order.
‘Welcomes verdict’
Commenting on the matter, Chinmoy Roy, Senior Legal Officer, Antrix Corp, said: “Antrix welcomes this US court verdict. Earlier, the Supreme Court of India had declared Devas as fraudulent and the Delhi High Court had set aside the ICC Arbitration Award against Antrix. Further, the Netherlands Court had also decided in favour of Antrix recently. With the verdict of the US court, the perpetrators of Devas have been brought to justice,” he said.
The ICC tribunal had rendered an arbitration award dated September 14, 2015, against Antrix, awarding Devas $562.5 million due to the wrongful termination of the Antrix-Devas satellite deal. Pursuant to this, Devas had been trying to enforce this ICC aard against Antrix in the US, France, the UK and the Netherlands, seizing various assets of Antrix in these jurisdictions.