INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The appeal comes as Cairn is pulling out all the stops to recover the damages awardIndia has appealed against an order by an international
tribunal to pay $1.2 billion in damages, plus other costs, to Cairn Energy in a long-running tax dispute, two sources with direct knowledge
of the matter told Reuters
London-listed Cairn in December was awarded damages of $1.2 billion-plus interest and costs, taking the current total to over $1.7 billion
India, which is now liable to make this payment, had said previously it would challenge the order.The appeal, filed on Monday in a Dutch
court, comes as Cairn is pulling out all the stops to recover the damages award, including hiring a team of asset recovery experts
It also comes weeks ahead of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's visit to India to build deeper business ties.India has appealed on the
grounds that taxation-related matters are not covered in its bilateral investment treaty with the United Kingdom under which the case was
filed, and therefore the arbitration tribunal does not have the jurisdiction to rule on the matter, one of the sources said
Cairn and India's finance ministry did not respond to a request for comment.Cairn has already filed cases in local courts in the United
States, UK, France, Netherlands, Singapore and Quebec to enforce the arbitration award, and there is likely to be more enforcement actions
in other countries, Dennis Hranitzky, head of the sovereign litigation practice at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart - Sullivan, a law firm
representing the company, told Reuters.This essentially means that once it obtains orders from the local courts, Cairn can identify and
seize Indian assets, which could include bank accounts, Air India planes, and property of other Indian state-owned companies, he said."Cairn
has appointed a team of the best asset-tracing and recovery experts in the business to collect against India," Hranitzky said, adding that
the company will do everything it takes to recover the full amount of the arbitral award if settlement discussions are not fruitful.Cairn
has said the money ultimately belongs to its shareholders - which include large investors such as BlackRock, Fidelity and Franklin
Templeton, and the ramifications of India not honouring the award will "run across the international investment community more widely".
