Cairn obtains order to seize Indian properties in Paris

Cairn Energy has secured a French court order giving it the right to seize around 20 properties in central Paris belonging to the government of India or state-owned companies, local and international media reported.

The move is the latest twist in the British energy company’s long-running dispute with New Delhi to enforce a USD1.26 billion arbitration award. In May, it sued Air India (AI, Mumbai Int’l) claiming that the state-owned flag carrier is the alter ego of the country itself and therefore jointly liable for the debt.

Details about the properties in the French capital were not disclosed but are estimated to have the potential to yield about USD23 million. Besides its presence at Paris CDG, Air India also maintains an office on Rue des Colonnes in central Paris.

Sources told the newspaper The Hindu that Cairn had identified assets worth about USD70 billion in at least ten jurisdictions – the France, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada, Singapore, Japan, the UAE, and the Cayman Islands – which they could potentially freeze through court order.

The government of India, however, has denied knowledge of the latest development, reminding local media of the fact that it had filed an appeal against the award for damages against it in the December 2020 ruling at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

“The government is trying to ascertain the facts, and whenever such an order is received, appropriate legal remedies will be taken, in consultation with its counsels, to protect the interests of India,” a Finance Ministry statement said, adding that it had received no communications from any court in France.

In an analysis on the issue, the BBC explained: “These are, of course, tactics in a bigger battle. Cairn does not have any particular interest in trying to seize and resell Air India aircraft or the clutch of properties it has seized in France. What it wants is to be a thorn in the Indian government’s side.”

David Nisbet, director for group corporate affairs at Cairn Energy, told the BBC radio programme Today: “It is a long-running story unfortunately, and one we wished hadn’t actually taken place. Clearly what we want to do is find an agreed amicable settlement with the government of India. But this is all just part of a process of saying, ‘Look India, we need to earnestly engage’, but we also have a fiduciary duty to protect the rights of our shareholders.”

Air India did not immediately respond to ch-aviation’s request for comment.