Cairn case: French court orders government’s Paris properties frozen

凯恩案：法国法院下令冻结印度政府在巴黎的房产

NEW DELHI: A French court has ordered a freeze on residential properties owned by the Indian government in central Paris, in what is seen as a setback for the Centre in its tax dispute with London-listed Cairn Energy Plc.

新德里：法国一家法院下令冻结印度政府在巴黎市中心拥有的住宅地产，此举被视为印度政府在与伦敦上市公司凯恩能源公司的税务纠纷中受挫。

Tribunal judiciaire de Paris’s ruling based on Cairn Energy’s application will impact some 20 properties, valued at more than 20 million euros (Rs 177 crore), as part of a guarantee of the debt owed to the British company that exted India a few years ago. Some of the properties are in the 16th Arrondissement of Paris, which is one of the wealthiest areas in the city.

巴黎司法法庭基于凯恩能源的申请作出的裁决将影响约20处房产，价值超过2000万欧元(17.7亿卢比)，作为对这家英国公司的债务担保的一部分，该公司在几年前退出了印度。其中一些房产位于巴黎第16区，这是巴黎最富有的地区之一。

"This is the necessary preparatory step to taking ownership of the properties and ensures that the proceeds of any sales would be due to Cairn," said a source familiar with the proceedings.

一位知情人士表示:“这是获得这些房产所有权的必要准备步骤，并确保卖房的收入都将归于凯恩能源。”

The action in France is part of Cairn’s enforcement strategy of pushing the government to withdraw its appeal against an international tribunal’s award in the retrospective taxation case. The arbitration tribunal had held that the government had violated provisions of an investment treaty in seeking capital gains tax from the British company.

在法国采取的这一行动是凯恩能源执行战略的一部分，该战略旨在推动印度政府撤回对国际法庭关于追溯性税收案裁决的上诉。仲裁庭裁定，印度政府向英国公司寻求资本利得税，违反了一项投资条约的规定。

The company — which has less than 200 employees and a market capitalisation of £755 million (under Rs 7,800 crore) — has filed cases in several countries to pursue the unpaid international arbitration award of $1.7 billion (Rs 12,750 crore).

这家公司员工不到200人，市值7.55亿英镑(折合780亿卢比），已经在几个国家提起诉讼，要求印度政府按照国际仲裁或裁决支付17亿美元(折合1275亿卢比)的赔偿。

The Modi government has stuck to the stand and has now challenged the award arguing that bilateral investment treaties cannot override the legislature’s powers.

莫迪政府坚持立场，现在对裁决提出质疑，称双边投资条约不能凌驾于立法机构的权力之上。

以下是印度时报读者的评论：译者：Jessica.Wu

bhartiyabharat21

They instead lost away 20 million euros worth property to foreign. Total useless fellow this modi.

被外国公司抢走了价值2000万欧元的房产，莫迪真是个没用的家伙。

Gopal Raj Kumar

Blame the likes of our politicians, our media and our celebrities who make Britain their home and worship anything white including their skins and films. Then blame the police for allowing Vijay Malaya to escape to that country that protects him.

要怪就怪那些把英国当成自己家的印度政客、媒体和名人吧，他们崇拜白人，崇拜他们的皮肤和电影，却指责警方让维贾伊·马尔雅逃到那个他庇护他的国家。

Pkm

Don't blame Nehru RaGa or Priyanka Chopra for the fiasco

不要把责任推给尼赫鲁、拉胡尔或普里扬卡

Opinion

Nikammi BKP government. India had lost face on World state

印度又在国际上丢脸了

Sourabh Sharma

British Imperialism is coming back in Modern world.

英帝国主义在现代世界卷土重来。

Ashok Sheth

Watch out for those Rafales, in case Cairn makes a grab for these too.

小心那些没交付的阵风战机，别让凯恩公司扣住了。

Tadi Paar Shah

We cannot blame British, as they are our beloved masters.

我们不能责怪英国人，因为他们是我们敬爱的主人。

Genius Singh

Very shameful - Ideally the govt should pay up and simply close the matter - this will get very embarassing for india if they dont resolve it soon

非常丢人。印度政府应该付钱了事。如果他们不尽快解决这个问题，这会让印度非常尴尬

RAVI RAMASWAMY

You cannot fool around with bilateral treaties by bringing laws with retrospective effect. It is unfair, criminal and deserves this.

不能用具有追溯效力的法律来糊弄双边条约。这是不公平的，印度是罪有应得。

Rajkumar Watsalya

Loopholes in Indian laws were exploited by clever cheat n run cos. They R helped by corrupt buerocrats.

印度法律的漏洞被聪明的骗子利用了。他们受到腐败官僚的帮助。

shankar Ranganathan

very embarassing for indian government. some IAS jokers pushed for retrospective laws to fine is not justified. politians are facing the flak for this.

这让印度政府非常尴尬。一些IAS小丑推动追溯法罚款是不合理的。政客们正为此受到猛烈抨击。

Guest

it is a shame that Indian assets all over the world are being seized to pay off debts. It appears that the national political leadership is shameless.

印度在世界各地的资产被没收以偿还债务，这是一个耻辱。国家领导人不要脸的。

Shasti Brata

Unfortunately the current administration is held responsible for the shady deals of the dynastic party administration with the puppet chief executive. Thwarting an arbitration or court award through retroactive legislation does project us in bad light. Hope the government resolves this amicably.

不幸的是，印度政府要为国大党时期的阴暗勾当负责。通过具有追溯力的立法阻挠仲裁或法庭裁决确实会让我们处于不利地位。希望政府能友好地解决这个问题。

rajendrakumar talukdar

All these happened during Congress misrule- Gandhi Vadra Mouni are responsible. Present govt is facing problems created by these people.

这些都发生在国大党的执政时期——甘地家族、瓦德拉要对此负责。印度政府正面临着这些人遗留下来的问题。

Maya Mahant

Gets their throat we don't give in to their bullying tactics.

我们不屈服于他们的欺凌策略

Murthykrishna

All started when Italian lady was in power ....As usual paid media and Urban Naxals shifting the blame on Modi ......

这一切都始于一位意大利女士掌权的时候....像往常一样，被收买的媒体和纳萨尔党把责任推到莫迪身上......

Gurunathan Rajamani

BJP HAS TO SUFFER FOR THE CONGRESS's SINS in many cases and this is one such case. Corruption was the root of Congress party and we don't know how many more years we have to suffer for their folly

印度人民党在很多情况下都要为国大党的罪行付出代价，这也是一个例子。腐败源于国大党，我们不知道还要为他们的愚蠢遭多少年的罪

Zillionaire

Sell everything Immediately. Get all foreign money back to India. Stop all IMPORTS.

立即出售所有资产。让所有外国资金回到印度，停止所有进口。

Anmol Malla

First of all, retrospective tax law was unjust and unfair, leading to the arbitration award against govt. Govt should show some character and settle the issue amicably with the company.

They will anyways recover the their award through seizures if not settles amicably.

首先，执行追溯效力的税法是不公正、不公平的，导致了不利于政府的仲裁裁决。政府应该与该公司友好地解决问题。如果不能友好解决，他们将通过没收这些房产来收回赔偿。

AK Sharma

Serves the Indian govt right for harassing foreign companies by making retrograde tax laws.

印度政府制定追溯性税法，骚扰外国公司，这是活该

elangovan elangovan

Congress did the damage now BJP paying the price.

损害是国大党造成的，现在人民党要付出代价。