Japanese telecom major DoCoMo has accused its estranged Indian partner Tata Group of attempting to ‘re-litigate arguments’ that were already fully considered and rejected by the panel of London arbitrators appointed by the two companies. “Instead of cooperating, and contrary to its publicly stated desire to pay, Tata used its court filing on September 2, to seek the Delhi court’s assistance to block the enforcement of the award in India. In doing so, it appears that Tata is attempting to re-litigate arguments that already were fully considered and rejected by the panel of distinguished LCIA arbitrators appointed by both Tata and DoCoMo,” the DoCoMo statement said. DoCoMo further said it is in the company’s own interest to take all appropriate steps to enable Tatas to fulfil its payment obligations in India, and therefore “DoCoMo is open to any discussion with Tata and the Indian government to enable this”. Earlier today, Tata Group said it has approached a London court seeking setting aside of an ex-parte order obtained by the Japanese firm for enforcement of the arbitral award against the Indian company. “Tata Sons has today filed an application to set aside an ex-parte order obtained by NTT DoCoMo from London’s commercial Court on July 25th, 2016,” Tata Sons said. However, sources in DoCoMo told, that while the application had indeed been filed by Tatas in London’s Commercial Court, the Indian company had not filed justification of evidence to support the application. Tatas, claimed DoCoMo sources, have time till September 30 to file evidence in support of its application. Meanwhile, the statement by DoCoMo further said that while it did not wish to revisit its discussions with Tata in public, it has throughout sought Tata’s cooperation to facilitate the payment of the award in line with the London Court of International Arbitration or LCIA tribunal’s ruling. “Docomo had hoped that Tata would join it to seek confirmation from the Delhi High Court that enforcement of the LCIA award in India would not contravene Indian law. This clarity would have smoothed the path to payment of the award in India,” DoCoMo said. In June this year, LCIA tribunal ordered Tata Sons to pay DoCoMo, a sum of $1.17 billion in compensation for breaching an agreement on India joint venture — Tata Teleservices. The Japanese firm has filed a plea in the Delhi High Court seeking enforcement of the arbitration ruling. Tata Sons has deposited the entire amount of $1.17 billion with the registrar of the Delhi High Court which is hearing the matter.
