Recently, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague passed
an award in favour of the telecom giant Vodafone, in an
international arbitration initiated by Vodafone International
Holdings BV (Vodafone) against the Republic of India under
the ‘Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of
Investments' that India had entered into with the Kingdom of
Netherlands (Agreement).
Background
The instant award is preceded by a long-drawn battle between
Vodafone and the Indian tax authorities.
Vodafone, a company resident in the Netherlands, acquired in
2007 shares of CGP Investments (Holdings) Limited (CGP), an entity
resident in the Cayman Islands from another Cayman Islands company,
Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (Hutchison). CGP
through its subsidiaries held majority stake in an Indian company,
Hutchison Essar Limited (HEL) (later Vodafone Essar Limited), thus
resulting in a change in the ultimate shareholding of HEL upon
conclusion of the said
