 "BATELCO gets favourable injunction order against Sivasankaran and others")
The Madras High Court has issued an interim injunction in favour of Mauritius-based BMIC Ltd, subsidiary of Bahrain Telecommunications Company BSC (BATELCO), restraining businessman C Sivasankaran and his group from alienating some of the properties in India. The company had moved the Madras High Court to execute the decree it received from an English Court.
The litigation comes as part of the latest developments in a case between BMIC Limited and C Sivasankaran and Siva Limited, on which a decree was issued by the High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court, for payment of money. As per the Decree, Sivasankaran and Siva Ltd were liable for sum of Rs 1627.51 crore to the company, says the petition.
The company alleges that while it has seen attempts of alienation of property and sought for injunction to prevent the alleged alienation of properties and encumbrances being created, a court official without considering its submissions passed an order granting time to Sivasankaran and 17 others including Tata Teleservices to respond and posted the matter for hearing on February 7, 2016. It was against this decision the company approached the High Court.
Justice K K Sasidharan, in an order on Wednesday, directed that C Sivasankaran who is insolvent and represented by official receiver and manager Bernard Pool, along with seventeen others including varioius entities, "are hereby restrained by an order of interim injunction till 15.02.2016 from any manner dealing with, alienating, encumbering the immovable and movable assets owned by them and more particularly the Assets setout in the Schedule". The scheduled properties mentioned here are Fir Haven Estate and another property in Chennai and the shares in Tata Tele Services.
In its petition, BMIC alleged that Sivasankaran is the owner of an immovable property known as "Fir Haven Estate", in Chennai and is the real owner of another immovable property in T Nagar, in the city. Sivasankaran also owns a company called India Televentures Limited. India Televentures Limited in turn held the shares of a company known as Telecom Investments (Mauritius) Limited (TIML). It has also scheduled "79 million Shares in Tata Teleservices Limited held beneficially for and on behalf of 1st Respondent," according to the BMIC documents. The first respondent mentioned here is Sivasankaran.
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In July 16, 2014, the English Court also passed an order known as "World Wide Freezing Order" against the assets of the Sivasankaran and Siva Ltd, and after BMIC approached the Supreme Court of Seychelles seeking arrest and imprisonment of Sivasankaran. However, the Supreme Court of Seychelles, in an application from Sivasankaran, in August 26, 2014, adjudicated him as an Insolvent/Bankrupt.
It alleged that Sivasankaran has various properties, business interest within the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court and has deliberately concealed these facts from the English Court as well as in the Bankruptcy proceedings in Seychelles. BMIC has engaged the services of professionals and tracked various assets and business interests of Sivasankaran that are situated within the jurisdiction of the Court. It also alleged that these assets were transferred to several companies which are being held by them in trust for Sivasankaran.
According to reports, in 2009 BMIC bought 42.7 per cent stake in a mobile service company S Tel from Sivasankaran. S Tel had been awarded a 2G licence in 2008, which was later cancelled by the Supreme Court in 2012 post the 2G scam. BMIC and Sivasankaran entered into an agreement under which the latter would buy the stake back at the same price. However, there was allegedly a breach of agreement and BMIC took Sivasankaran and others to the English Court, which later issued the decree.
