Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday indicated the government’s intent to appeal against an arbitration panel asking India to return $1.4 billion to UK’s Cairn Energy Plc, saying it is her “duty” to appeal in cases where the nation’s sovereign authority to tax is questioned.
Last year, the government lost two high-profile arbitrations over the levy of taxes on British firms, using legislation that gave it the power to levy taxes with retrospective effect.
While the government has already challenged in a Singapore court an international arbitration tribunal verdict that overturned its demand for Rs 22,100 crore in back taxes from Vodafone Group Plc, it hasn’t yet done so against a December 21 award asking India to return the value of shares seized and sold, dividend confiscated and tax refund stopped to adjust a Rs 10,247 crore tax demand on Cairn.
