The Delhi High Court provided comfort to the government on Monday by vacating an arbitral award of more than $562.2 million made in favour of Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd. on the abrupt termination of its contract with the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro), Antrix.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva dismissed Antrix’s appeal of the arbitral ruling, finding that it had several patent infractions and instances of fraud in addition to being at odds with the “public policy of India.”
Antrix and Devas agreed to a contract in 2005 under which Antrix would construct and launch two Isro satellites and lease Devas the S-band satellite spectrum for use in providing multimedia services. However, Antrix terminated the contract in 2011 by using the force majeure (exceptional circumstances) provision in response to reports of procedural and regulatory breaches, which prompted Devas to seek damages from arbitral tribunals.
An arbitral panel established by the International Chamber of Commerce granted Devas’ lawsuit on September 14, 2015, by awarding them $15,000 crore in damages and interest.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s conclusion that Devas was founded for the “fraudulent and unlawful purpose” of “unjust enrichment” was upheld by the Supreme Court on January 17. This opened the way for Devas to be dissolved at the request of Isro’s commercial arm, Antrix. Devas and its stockholders cannot be permitted to profit from their dishonest actions since they are the products of fraud, according to Justice Sachdeva, who set aside the award because it would send the incorrect message to society.
 The court also referenced the January 17 ruling of the Supreme Court, which stated that the “very seeds of the business relationship between Antrix and Devas were a product of fraud perpetrated by Devas and, therefore, every part of the plant that grew out of those seeds, such as the agreement, the disputes, arbitral awards, etc., are all infected with the poison of fraud.”