Devas moves International Court of Justice

NEW DELHI: Devas Multimedia, whose controversial deal for scarce S-band spectrum with Antrix Corporation was annulled by the government, has moved the International Court of Arbitration for restoration of the contract.Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (Isro), said it would go through the finer details of thedevelopment before responding."Devas confirms having exercised itsrights and filed for arbitration with the International Court of Arbitrationunder the International Chamber of Commerce to resolve Antrix's breach ofcontract and purported termination of the Devas-Antrix Agreement," a Devasstatement said.The company refused to give further details. Whencontacted, V S Hegde, chairman and managing director of Antrix Corporation saidhe would study the matter first before reacting."We will look intoit. We will follow the procedure," he said. Hegde, Scientific Secretary withIsro, was named as Antrix CMD on Saturday.Devas is understood tohave urged the international court to direct Antrix to fulfill itsagreement.Antrix had entered into an agreement with Devas forleasing of S-band capacity on two satellites -- GSAT 6 and 6A to be launched byIsro.Under the terms of the agreement, Devas was to use the leasedcapacity for 12 years to offer multimedia services through its specialisedsystems to mobile terminals across India.After a controversy brokeout on the agreement, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had scrapped thedeal in February citing strategic reasons.