The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has requested the Ministry of Law to provide it with legal aid in case Sistema initiates any arbitration against it, as per news reports.
Prior to this, Sistema Shyam Teleservices Limited (SSTL) had stated that its joint venture partner Sistema is likely to initiate legal proceedings against the Indian government under the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) to protect its investment in the country.
SSTL’s licences were amongst the 122 2G licenses cancelled by the Supreme Court order in February this year. Thereafter, Sistema, which holds about 56.68 per cent stake in SSTL, served a legal notice to the government seeking damages from it under BIPA. However, Sistema could not start the proceedings against the government earlier than six months after serving the notice.
