Devas moves International Court of Justice

New Delhi, Jul 11 (PTI) Devas Multimedia, whose
controversial deal for scarce S-band spectrum with Antrix
Corporation was annulled by the government, has moved the
International Court of Arbitration for restoration of the
contract.
Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO), said it would go through the
finer details of the development before responding.
"Devas confirms having exercised its rights and filed for
arbitration with the International Court of Arbitration under
the International Chamber of Commerce to resolve Antrix's
breach of contract and purported termination of the
Devas-Antrix Agreement," a Devas statement said.
The company refused to give further details.
When contacted, V S Hegde, Chairman and Managing Director
of Antrix Corporation said he would study the matter first
before reacting.
"We will look into it. We will follow the procedure," he
told PTI.
Hegde, Scientific Secretary with ISRO, was named as
Antrix CMD on Saturday.
Devas is understood to have urged the international court
to direct Antrix to fulfill its agreement.
Antrix had entered into an agreement with Devas for
leasing of S-band capacity on two satellites -- GSAT 6 and 6A
to be launched by ISRO.
Under the terms of the agreement, Devas was to use the
leased capacity for 12 years to offer multimedia services
through its specialised systems to mobile terminals across
India.
After a controversy broke out on the agreement, the
Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS) had scrapped the deal in
February citing strategic reasons.