India’s government is refusing to yield in its longstanding tax dispute with Vodafone Group by appealing the case in the Singapore High Court.
The case relates to the 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Essar by UK-based Vodafone, for which the Indian government attempted to charge the operator INR221 billion (US$3.0 billion) in fees and back taxes.
As reported by TeleGeography, India’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of Vodafone in January 2012. In May that year, the government undercut the ruling by implementing legislation that allowed it to tax Vodafone for the acquisition retroactively.
This led to new litigation, which in May 2014 resulted in Vodafone taking the case to an international arbitration tribunal in The Hague. In September 2020, the tribunal unanimously rejected the Indian government’s tax claim, securing Vodafone’s second major win in the case.
The Indian government is now seeking to challenge this verdict in the Singapore High Court, reports The Economic Times.
