In a reply to the Rajya Sabha, Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance has said that Russian operator Sistema plans to initiate legal proceedings against India after August 28, 2012, if the issue arising from the Supreme Court?s verdict of the 2G spectrum case does not get resolved by then, say news reports.
As per the Court?s verdict, Sistema stands to lose 21 telecom licences.
The company has been pulling out all stops to ensure that it stays on in India. Prior to this, Sistema sent a formal notice to The Republic of India notifying it of a dispute under the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of India.
The company is of the opinion that the cancellation of SSTL’s licenses following its investment into the Indian cellular sector is contrary to India?s obligations under the BIT, including obligations to provide investments with full protection and security and obligations not to expropriate investments.
The formal notice requests The Republic of India to settle the dispute relating to the revocation of SSTL’s 21 telecom licenses in an amicable way within six months.
Further, the notice states that if the dispute is not amicably resolved by August 28, 2012 Sistema reserves the right to commence proceedings against The Republic of India as provided in the BIT.
