A cash laundering case introduced by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) towards a former govt director of the Antrix Company, a business arm of the Indian House Analysis Group, over a satellite tv for pc take care of the start-up agency Devas Multimedia Pvt Ltd, has been quashed by the Karnataka Excessive Court docket on the grounds that the deal was authorised by the Antrix board.
A single choose bench on Friday quashed the case introduced below the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act, 2012, towards Ok R Sridharamurthi, citing the actual fact “that the lease of house phase to Devas Multimedia was on the instruction and instructions of the board of administrators of Antrix Company and particular invitees”.
Sridharamurthi is amongst 10 people and entities accused of cash laundering within the Devas Multimedia-Antrix Corp deal of 2005, for which the ED filed a chargesheet in July 2018.
The opposite accused are Devas Multimedia CEO and founder Ramachandran Viswanathan, director M G Chandrashekar, Devas CTOs Desaraju Venugopal and Nataraj Dakshinamurthy, finance director Ranganathan Mohan, and three Devas subsidiaries.
The previous Antrix Corp govt director and Devas Multimedia officers had been accused of allegedly diverting 85 per cent of Rs 579 crore of overseas funding it acquired to the US following the 2005 satellite tv for pc deal. The funds had been allegedly transferred after the satellite tv for pc deal was annulled in 2011 by the UPA authorities.
Indian companies just like the ED and CBI have alleged that the Devas-Antrix deal concerned fraud on account of Devas Multimedia being created below fraudulent circumstances. The Nationwide Firm Regulation Tribunal liquidated Devas Multimedia for alleged fraud and the Supreme Court docket has upheld the order.
Within the ED case towards Sridharamurthi, who can be accused by the CBI in a corruption case over the 2005 deal, the Karnataka Excessive Court docket on Friday dominated that he acted on the directions of the board of Antrix Corp to clear the satellite tv for pc take care of Devas and never in his particular person capability. The HC additionally dominated that since there was no allegation of fraud or cash laundering towards Antrix Corp itself, the previous govt director of the agency can’t be accused of cash laundering.
“Perusal of minutes of board assembly and communication issued (by the Antrix Corp official) reveals that the lease of house phase to Devas Multimedia was on the instruction and course of the board of administrators of Antrix Company and likewise particular invitees just like the Chairman of ISRO who was a part of the conferences. The communication by A10 (Sridharamurthi) additionally signifies that administrators of departments involved had been knowledgeable in regards to the leasing of the house phase to Devas Multimedia,” Justice Hemanth Chandangoudar mentioned.
“This reveals that A10 on due authorisation by a board of administrators and administrators of departments involved entered into settlement with Devas Multimedia and the allegation that (Sridharamurthi) entered into settlement fraudulently can’t be made,” the HC mentioned.
The board of administrators of the Antrix Corp. consisted of prime Indian house officers and industrialists like Ratan Tata and Jamshedji Godrej when the settlement with the founders of Devas Multimedia was authorized and executed within the 2004 to 2011 interval.
On September 15, 2022, a particular court docket in Bengaluru listening to the PMLA case pertaining to Devas Multimedia ordered the issuance of a discover below the Fugitive Financial Offenders Act, 2018 to the US-based founder CEO of Devas Multimedia Pvt Ltd, Ramachandran Viswanathan, on the idea of an software filed by the ED to declare Viswanathan a fugitive financial offender.
Viswanathan is a satellite tv for pc communications entrepreneur within the US and is now the president of Omnispace LLC, a satellite tv for pc communications start-up within the US, which is placing collectively a constellation of satellites to energy 5G from house – particularly to supply connectivity to distant areas the place terrestrial cell networks don’t work. Indian corporations just like the Tata Group owned Nelco Ltd have signed agreements with Omnispace to supply 5G connectivity by means of non terrestrial networks.
The case towards Devas Multimedia officers and the previous Antrix Corp director has roots in a January 2005 deal between the start-up Devas Multimedia and ISRO’s Antrix Corp. to make use of two ISRO communication satellites to supply multimedia companies to cell gadgets in distant areas the place standard, terrestrial telecom networks don’t have attain.
Below the 2005 satellite tv for pc take care of Devas, the Indian house company ISRO was contracted to lease two communication satellites for 12 years at a value of Rs 167 crore to Devas Multimedia. The beginning-up was to supply video-audio companies to cell platforms in India utilizing the house band or S-band spectrum transponders on ISRO’s GSAT 6 and 6A satellites constructed at a value of Rs 766 crore by the house company.
The Devas Multimedia-Antrix Corp settlement was annulled by the UPA authorities in February 2011 following allegations of the contract being a “sweetheart deal” within the backdrop of the 2G rip-off. After the NDA authorities got here to energy in 2014 the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED started full-fledged investigations of the 2005 satellite tv for pc deal.
The ED and the CBI have filed cost sheets alleging corruption and cash laundering within the matter.
The CBI filed a cost sheet in 2016 towards Devas and Antrix and their executives together with former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair on fees of corruption.
Following the cancellation of the 2005 deal, Devas Multimedia and its overseas traders approached worldwide arbitration tribunals to hunt compensation for losses they incurred. Devas and its overseas traders have been awarded compensation by three arbitration tribunals over the failed deal.
The most important compensation award has been a September 14, 2015 ICC tribunal award of over $ 1.2 billion which was confirmed by a US federal court docket on October 27, 2020. Antrix Company has filed an attraction towards this order within the US Court docket of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Based mostly on the CBI and ED instances towards Devas Multimedia, the Nationwide Firm Regulation Tribunal in India ordered the liquidation of Devas in Might 2021 on fees that the corporate was created in a fraudulent method. This order was upheld by the Supreme Court docket of India in January this 12 months.
Additional on August 29 this 12 months, the Delhi excessive court docket 12 months put aside the ICC tribunal arbitration award of $ 1.2 billion compensation to Devas and its traders and mentioned that “the impugned award dated 14.09.2015 suffers from patent illegalities and fraud and is in battle with the general public coverage of India”.
Devas Multimedia and its traders – together with the German telecom main Deutsche Telekom – are concerned in a protracted authorized battle the world over over the choice of the Authorities of India in 2011 to annul the 2005 satellite tv for pc deal between Devas and Antrix.