A 12-year lawsuit worth more than $1.2 billion between Devas Multimedia and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) looks no closer to settlement.

ISRO had a commercial arm, Antrix, and in 2005 Antrix sold 70 MHz of S-band satellite capacity to Devas Multimedia. The deal was later the subject of civil and criminal proceedings in India and ISRO executives convicted and senior staff dismissed.

Devas, headquartered in Bangalore, India, pursued Antrix/ISRO and eventually won compensation from an Indian court and further compensation in 2020 by a US court totalling $1.2 billion – with interest being added daily

Now it has emerged that a minority group of Indian shareholders in Devas has asked a US court for a temporary restraining order and thus stopping Devas from reaching a settlement.

Devas, in its submission, has described the action as a “government occupation”. Devas itself is also the subject of a winding up order and India’s company law regulator the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has appointed a provisional liquidator. The action was initiated by ISRO/Antrix.

Devas was alleged to being a company that exists “only on paper” and a “sham business”. It responded by opposing the liquidation because of the various court issues pending.

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Tags: india, ISRO