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The following statement can be attributed to Matthew D. McGill, Lead Counsel to Devas Shareholders and Partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, in response to the Delhi High Court’s Set Aside order of the ICC Award owed to Devas: “The ruling by the Delhi High Court is a mockery of the international arbitration system and a warning to investors that […]

A scathing column by Indian journalist Debasish Roy Chowdhury published in the New York Times sheds yet more light on the repressive use of law enforcement agencies and courts as “tools of repression” by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Marking the 75th Anniversary of Independence from Britain, Chowdhury details how the Modi government […]

There appears to be growing concern out of Washington with Modi’s increasingly autocratic behavior. Writing this week in the International Business Times, Daniel Sepulveda, a former Obama official in the State Department, highlights that under Modi there has been a “noticeable decline in India’s rule of law & commitment to protecting human freedoms.” Amb. Sepulveda […]

The Modi government’s abuse of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in Criminal Matters between the U.S. and India, and of the Interpol Red Notice process, more broadly, is creating deep concern in Washington. This week, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland raising concerns that India (and other foreign […]

This week, the Hindu BusinessLine reported on the rising desperation inside the Modi regime as they attempt to evade paying the more than $1.5 billion owed to shareholders of Devas. The Indian government has now sought to declare Devas founder, Ramachandran Viswanathan, an “Economic Fugitive” in the bogus Prevention of Money Laundering Act case against […]

In an exclusive sit down with America’s Daily Caller, the founder of Devas Multimedia, Ramachandran Viswanathan, spoke out about the Modi government’s campaign of “lawless behavior” in their desperate effort to pressure Devas shareholders to end their global enforcement efforts. The interview revealed for the first time that the Indian government has sought a Red […]

Last week, the Washington Post highlighted a new Freedom House report, Defending Democracy in Exile, which focuses on increasingly aggressive cases of transnational repression by autocratic regimes looking to silence opponents. The Freedom House report details a stark increase in worldwide cases of transnational repression in 2021, with 85 new cases of “public, direct, physical […]

Indian Government’s Scramble to Evade Payment Failing as Enforcement Actions Continue The following is a statement from Matthew D. McGill, Partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Lead Counsel to Devas Shareholders, following the disclosure in Canadian court proceedings that Devas shareholders have $55 million of monies held by the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) […]

A recent academic article authored by Prabhash Ranjan, Vice Dean of the Jindal Global Law School in Delhi, astutely observes the government’s many missteps in the Devas case, but misses the real lesson  –  that by demonizing genuine, credible and pioneering foreign investors, and by dishonestly using the country’s judicial and law enforcement powers against […]

The Airports Authority of India (“AAI”) has announced its withdrawal from the international system for collection of overflight and landing fees. This withdrawal furthers AAI efforts to evade enforcement of the arbitration award against India held by Devas shareholders. The action was taken despite AAI’s formal assurances earlier this year to Canadian courts that the status […]

The Indian government has done everything in its power to prevent Devas from enforcing its $1.3bn ICC Award. It has amended its own arbitration laws, levied false allegations of fraud against Devas and then forced Devas into liquidation to avoid payment. As a result, Devas shareholders filed a new arbitration claim against India on Wednesday, […]

Despite a scripted and predictable ruling from the Indian Supreme Court, Devas shareholders continue pursuit of Indian assets across the globe. Yesterday, the Indian Supreme court released a ruling on Devas shareholders’ appeal of the “winding-up” order handed down by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in May of 2021. The court’s ruling to uphold […]

Today, the Financial Times covers two significant victories for Devas shareholders this week, in the effort to secure the $1.3 billion in arbitration judgements owed by India. On Saturday, a Canadian court upheld an order to allow Devas shareholders to garnish 50% of Air India revenues flowing to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which […]

U.S. Court Lifts Stay on Enforcement in the United States; NCLT Proceedings a Sham Coming off the heels of a major success in Canada that has garnished over $30 million and counting in Indian government assets held at the International Air Transportation Association (IATA), Devas shareholders have struck again. On January 3, Judge Thomas Zilly […]

Next week, United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Deputy United States Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi will be in India to meet with their counterparts on expanding the bilateral trade relationship. The visit marks the resumption of the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF), a dialogue established in 2005, which has not convened since 2017. Its […]

The following is a statement from Jay Newman, Senior Advisor to Devas Shareholders, on India’s falsehoods and sham investigations: “The bogus fraud allegations against Devas reflect the depth of the government’s dishonesty. And the weakness of its institutions. Serious countries don’t corrupt their judiciary, traffic in falsehoods, and promote sham investigations — all to evade […]

The following is a statement from Jay Newman, Senior Advisor to Devas Shareholders, in response to the decision of the NCLAT to uphold the NCLT order: “Even a cursory examination of the NCLAT proceedings reveals them to be a sham, with the Indian government acting as judge, jury, and executioner to terminate the very existence […]

Jay Newman, Senior Advisor to Devas Shareholders, on Tuesday reacted to reports Cairn Energy is close to settling its year’s long tax dispute with the Indian Government. On Twitter, Newman called the reports of a settlement “encouraging” and warned that the “Indian Government must pay all of its debts. Not ‘a few’, not ‘some’”. Devas […]

Jay Newman, Senior Advisor to Devas Shareholders, on Wednesday reacted to news out of India that the government will absolve financial bidders of Air India from any liability that may arise from ongoing arbitration disputes, including those with Cairn Energy and Devas shareholders who also targeted Air India’s assets. On Twitter, Newman called the government’s move […]

Jay Newman, Senior Advisor to Devas Shareholders, on Monday reacted to reports that the Indian government will require companies involved in retroactive tax disputes to “withdraw all claims petitions, appeals, and arbitration award enforcement efforts” in order to settle. For more, follow @JayNewman and @DevasFacts on Twitter.

The following is a statement from Jay Newman, senior advisor to Devas Shareholders, in response to reports that the Indian government has introduced legislation to withdraw retrospective tax demands, like those which led to arbitration awards in the Cairn and Vodafone cases: “The reports of the legislation, if true, are an encouraging sign that India […]

Is the failure to pay international legal judgements, or in some cases, outright evasion, becoming a bigger headache for the Modi government than originally planned? Members of the Lok Sabha, India’s lower house of Parliament, are now questioning Modi government ministers about Devas, Cairn/Vodafone amongst others. Shri G.S. Basavaraj – a member of Modi’s ruling […]

New Report from U.S. State Hammers another Nail into India’s Investment Reputation This week,U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken will be in India where he’ll meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar. The timing of his trip is not coincidental. Wendy Sherman, the no. 2 U.S. diplomat is in Beijing. […]

Last week, the Economic Times and Law360 reported that the English Commercial Court in London has ruled that shareholders of Devas Multimedia should be allowed to join ongoing efforts to enforce a $1.3 billion arbitral award against the Indian government. In his judgment granting the shareholders the right to join as parties, Mr Justice Waksman noted, […]

Like the puppeteer feigning invisibility, the Indian Government is contradicting itself with public statements around Air India. In efforts to defend against legal actions filed by shareholders and investors of Devas Multimedia, the government desperately attempts to distance itself from the national carrier and claims it is not an ‘alter ego’. Yet at the same […]

“Arrogance” in Evading Arbitration Payments; “Problems May Have Only Just Started” A French court last week accepted a petition from Cairn Energy that Indian state-owned assets in Paris worth over $24 million be frozen as part of the effort to pay the over $1 billion arbitration award owed to the company by the Indian Government. […]

Today, the National Company Law Appeals Tribunal (NCLAT) will hear an appeal from Devas Multimedia and its shareholders seeking to overturn the unfounded decision of its subordinate tribunal, the NCLT, to wind up Devas. The hearing comes soon after shareholders and investors of Devas Multimedia filed action in the U.S. District Court for Southern District […]

Filing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Follows Similar Action by Cairn Energy Devas Promises to Pursue Action against India “in Courts Around the World” June 28, 2021 – Today, shareholders and investors of Devas Multimedia have filed action in the U.S. District Court for Southern District of New York […]

Setting the Record Straight on the Indian Government’s Expropriation of Devas Next Indian Court Hearing Set for July 8 Today, shareholders and investors of Devas Multimedia – who are currently owed over $1.5bn in compensation from the Indian Government – launch DevasFacts.com as an open and transparent information source about the Indian Government’s expropriation of Devas. The […]

It is unfortunate India has rejected an offer from Mauritius-based investors of Devas Multimedia Pvt Ltd to settle a dispute over a terminated satellite lease deal between Devas and Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of Isro. Indeed, the matter, which has dragged on for nearly a decade, is becoming increasingly mired in litigation. Last Tuesday, […]

Antrix is pursuing multiple cases to set aside the arbitration award and to get its former partner, Devas, liquidated India has given the cold shoulder to an offer by three Mauritius-based investors of Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd to settle their dispute over a cancelled satellite lease deal and the subsequent $1.3 billion international arbitration award they have […]

Pressure is growing on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to take a harder line against India’s attack on private investors when he meets with Prime Minister Modi at the G7 reports the Financial Times. Tory MPs, led by James Daly and Paul Britow have urged PM Johnson to address India’s “piratical” attitude towards foreign investors warning […]

After weeks of hubris, PM Modi finally admits that Covid’s economic impact on India will be “huge.” Well, they say admission is only half the battle. The cure may be a tougher pill to swallow, though. For starters, let’s look at the economic facts: The United Nations said the growth outlook for the Indian economy […]

Concerns are growing in London that Modi’s India may not be a reliable partner as the U.K. and India move closer to a free trade deal, writes Tim Worstall, a senior fellow at the Adam Smith Institute in London in City AM. Worstall writes that, “India is not a natural partner in free trade. Its […]

Modi’s Kangaroo Court Sanctions Illegal Theft of Devas in Show Trial Decision Claims Devas Will “Abuse the Process of Law” By Enforcing Its Own ICC Arbitration Award May 25, 2021 – Following the decision by the National Company Law Tribunal to forcibly liquidate and sanction the illegal theft of Devas Multimedia Private Ltd. from its […]

Campaign Highlights Modi Government’s Danger to Investors; Coincides with Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar’s Visit to Washington May 25, 2021 – Today, the website Devas Facts, a campaign established by American-owned and operated Devas Multimedia and its shareholders, announced a paid media campaign to draw attention to the Modi regime’s record of violating human rights, trampling […]

Recently, the Mint and The News Minute profiled the ongoing dispute between Devas Multimedia and the Indian government following a letter written by to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministries of Law and Justice, Home and External Affairs noting “The investors prefer to resolve this dispute amicably.” As reported by the Mint, “If the […]

A new analysis from Reuters exposes a brutal reality, “India’s devastating COVID-19 crisis is making investors question more than ever whether after years of debt accumulation and patchy progress on reforms, a country touted as a future economic superpower still deserves its ‘investment grade’ status.” Reuters is not the only voice questioning India’s sovereign rating. […]

International investors Cairn Energy and Devas Multimedia are circling PM Narendra Modi’s India, which has taken brazen actions to evade international arbitration judgments totalling more than $2.4 billion, according to India’s leading business daily, Mint. “Winners of international arbitration awards are circling the assets of the Indian government to recover at least $2.4 billion as […]

Cairn Energy announced it is proceeding to enforce its more than $1.2 billion arbitration award against the Indian government in a complaint filed before the U.S. District Court of Southern District of New York by seizing joint control of Air India. The move comes days after shareholders in Devas Multimedia threatened new arbitration proceedings against […]

Around the world, experts, academics and researchers arrive at the same conclusion: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s India has become an unsafe place to invest. A recent report by the London-based Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA), explores the challenges of doing business in Modi’s India, including the negative direction on property rights and investor protections writing, […]

In response to an unlawful campaign by the Indian government to block the enforcement of multiple arbitration awards, Devas has written to PM Narendra Modi, Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah and Law and Justice Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad. Devas’ letter raises the possibility of a new arbitration claim against the Indian government and its […]

The decline of the rule of law in India under PM Narendra Modi, and the rise in risks for investors, is becoming more and more widely known. This week, former UK Conservative Member of the European Parliament and Director-General of the British Chambers of Commerce, John Longworth, writes in the Daily Telegraph about the risks […]

Deutsche Telekom has petitioned a US court asking it to enforce a $1.2 billion compensation award against Antrix Corp, the commercial arm of India’s space agency, for cancelling a satellite contract with Devas Multimedia, in which the German telecom company is a strategic shareholder. Deutsche Telekom has sought that India pay its share of $135 […]

Indian Court Refuses to Stop Modi Government’s Illegal Theft of Devas to Evade Paying Arbitration AwardApril 28, 2021 – Following today’s decision before the High Court of Karnataka that refused to stop the illegal theft of Devas Multimedia Private Ltd. from its shareholders, Matthew D. McGill of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, lead counsel for […]

Sixteen years ago, Devas Multimedia Pvt Ltd entered into an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the commercial arm of the space agency, Antrix, to build out a hybrid satellite and terrestrial communications service throughout India. Fulfilling all of its contractual obligations, Devas scaled up – both financially and technically, with world-leading […]

It is unlikely that the prime minister will look back on the past 12 months with much fondness, but he would be justified in feeling a degree of satisfaction. After an uncertain start to handling the pandemic, his government is basking in the glow of a successful vaccination programme. The easing of lockdown is proceeding absurdly slowly, […]

Devas Multimedia isn’t a quoted company so what’s happening to it has no direct impact on anything we might be doing as investors. However, what the government of India is doing to Devas is a good indication of how they’re going to try to play the conflicts between what the government of India desires to […]

Boris Johnson will urge Narendra Modi, his Indian counterpart, to cut import tariffs on British whisky and cars as part of an ambitious plan to negotiate an interim free trade agreement in under a year. The British prime minister will announce a target to “more than double trade with India to £50bn by 2030” on […]

The path for a developing country to achieve sustained, elevated economic growth isn’t complicated: It requires a stable monetary base; a restrained tax code; easy-to-follow rules governing the ownership of private property; and a court system that fairly adjudicates the laws governing contracts that gives no undue preference to the narrow interests of the government […]

It was 245 years ago that Adam Smith told us of “peace, easy taxes and the tolerable administration of justice” as the path to the wealth of a nation. It is to Boris Johnson’s credit that the government now seeks to support the last of these principles in our foreign policy, as well as at […]

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited India this month to forge stronger security and economic ties between our two great nations. The visit was highly significant, because it came amid the most dangerous power dynamics we have seen in the Indo-Pacific region for a generation. China is no longer a growing or emerging threat, but poses […]

Is there a cult of personality in the democratic world to rival Narendra Modi’s? Consider the pageantry of veneration consecrated to the Indian prime minister just last month. On Feb. 24, the world’s largest cricket stadium — built at a cost of more than $100 million and bearing the name of one of India’s most […]