Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced a series of protests from Friday
An Italian judge has rejected a request by India to recover more than 278 million euros ($387 million) in bank guarantees backing a scrapped helicopter deal with Finmeccanica, the Italian defence group said on Monday.
India cancelled the 560 million-euro order with Finmeccanica unit AgustaWestland for 12 top-end helicopters in January, citing a breach of integrity relating to alleged corruption.
The ruling by a Milan court on Monday in favour of AgustaWestland, which is represented by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, confirms a temporary freeze decided by the same court in January.
The Indian government will appeal against the judgement, a spokesman for the defence ministry told Reuters on Tuesday.
“The Milan court has confirmed the ruling made last January, prohibiting... the payment of collateral of more than 278 million euros deposited in relation to the contract,” Finmeccanica said in a statement.
Sources had earlier informed Reuters of the court decision.
The overall value of the guarantee scheme with Deutsche Bank SpA, Deutsche Bank AG, Intesa Sanpaolo and the State Bank of India was around 300 million euros.
India managed to cash in two bank guarantees worth 2.4 billion Indian rupees ($39 million) earlier this year.
Finmeccanica said the Milan court declared it had no jurisdiction over a 28 million euro warranty bond, part of the overall scheme, which it said had already been paid out by the State Bank of India and Deutsche Bank.
India froze payments for the contract after Finmeccanica’s then Chairman Giuseppe Orsi was arrested in February last year for allegedly paying bribes to secure the deal, embarrassing the New Delhi government before parliamentary elections due by May.
Orsi and former AgustaWestland head Bruno Spagnolini, who have both denied allegations they paid bribes to middlemen to secure the deal, are being tried in the northern Italian city of Busto Arisizio.
The separate dispute over the contract, signed in 2010 by AgustaWestland International Ltd, the British unit of the helicopter company, will likely be a lengthy process.
New Delhi has agreed to AgustaWestland’s calls for arbitration, which will take place in India and could take months or even years to complete.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced a series of protests from Friday
By understanding the tactics universities employ, students can strategically craft their applications strategy
Oil demand for road transport should peak around 2025
Some of America's most prestigious universities have been rocked by protests in recent weeks as students and other agitators take over quads
Eight teams will compete in this groundbreaking event and more than 10,000 spectators are expected to witness the inaugural edition
Robust performance acknowledged at its annual general meeting
Israel has baulked at a permanent ceasefire, saying that would only allow Hamas to regroup
Total income reached to Dh5.607 billion compared to Dh4.431 billion, a solid expansion of 26.5 per cent YoY