Devas neither had technology nor hired it, committed serious fraud: Centre

NEW DELHI: The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that Devas Multimedia, a Bengaluru-based start-up which entered into a satellite deal with Antrix Corporation - the commercial arm of ISRO - "neither had the technology, nor hired the technology".

According to the January 2005 agreement, Antrix had agreed to build, launch and operate two satellites and to make available 70 MHz of S-band spectrum to Devas, which it planned to use to offer hybrid satellite and terrestrial communication services throughout India. In February 2011, Antrix terminated the agreement. Later, Devas moved various legal avenues in India, including the Supreme Court, which directed for a tribunal.

On Wednesday, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, representing the Centre, submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and specifically denied the possibility of mediation in the matter, on the ground that the Union of India has discovered a serious fraud in the entire series of transactions leading up to the disputes including the arbitration agreement. The Centre has highlighted that Rs 579 crore which was received by Devas between May 15, 2006 and June 14, 2010, were retained in the form of liquidity without putting it into any productive use. The Centre informed the top court that experimental license was fraudulently issued in favour of Devas, and hybrid technology, cited by it, was not in existence at the relevant time. "Devas neither had the technology, nor hired the technology," said the Centre. (IANS)

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