Antrix-Devas corruption case: Delhi court returns CBI chargesheet after 10 years citing lack of jurisdiction

A Delhi court recently returned the 2016 chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Antrix-Devas corruption case on finding that the court did not have the territorial jurisdiction to deal with the matter [CBI v. KRS Murthi & Ors].

Special Judge (CBI) Atul Krishna Agarwal passed the order on an application filed by ISRO's former additional secretary, Veena Sri Ram Rao, who is among the accused in the case.

Rao had sought the transfer of the case to a competent court having jurisdiction. She submitted that the alleged conspiracy and other acts leading to offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code had taken place in Bengaluru.

The Delhi court agreed with the submission.

“A bare perusal of the chargesheet and the relied upon documents, gives a clear indication that the majority of acts leading to the commission of the present offences and especially the offences pertaining to PC Act, have been committed within the territorial jurisdiction of Bangalore (presently Bengaluru)," the court stated.

The court, therefore, allowed Rao's application. It added that the CBI is at liberty to approach the appropriate court with its chargesheet.

The case concerns a 2005 agreement between Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and Devas Multimedia Private Limited.

The two entered into an agreement by which Antrix agreed to build, operate and launch two satellites and lease spectrum capacity on those satellites to Devas. Devas was to use the leased satellite spectrum to provide multimedia services for mobile platforms in India.

However, the deal became mired in controversy after allegations surfaced that spectrum was leased to Devas at throwaway prices.

It was reported that Devas was co-founded in 2004 by a former ISRO official who had secret knowledge about the commercialisation of the S-band spectrum that was sought to be leased under the 2005 agreement. It was alleged that ISRO officials colluded with those backing Devas to help the latter get undue gains.

In 2011, following changes in the Indian government's policy amid the 2G telecom scam, Antrix invoked a force majeure clause and terminated the agreement, citing impossibility of performance in view of the new policy.

Devas initiated arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce, opposing the contract's termination. In 2015, the ICC passed an arbitral award directing Antrix to pay damages of over US $560 million to Devas.

The award was, however, set aside by the Delhi High Court in 2022. In 2023, a Division Bench of the High Court, as well as the Supreme Court, upheld the decision to quash the arbitral award.

Meanwhile, an FIR was lodged in 2015 against former ISRO chairperson G Madhavan Nair and several other ISRO and Department of Space (DoS) officials. The CBI case accused these officials of cheating and corruption.

In 2016, the CBI submitted its chargesheet before a special court in Delhi against Nair, Rao and several officials involved for allegedly causing a loss of ₹578 crore to the State exchequer, by allegedly abusing their official positions to favour a private company. A supplementary chargesheet was filed in 2019.

On March 11, the Delhi court before which the chargesheets were filed found that it does not have the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the case.

“This court does not have territorial jurisdiction to try the present case/offences therein, since the substantial portion of the acts leading to the present offences, have not taken place within the territorial jurisdiction of Delhi. The present case be returned to the IO, CBI. IO is at liberty to present the same before the competent court having jurisdiction to adjudicate the present matter," the court ordered.

Accordingly, the court returned the chargesheet to the CBI and suggested that the agency approach the competent court in Bengaluru.

“The present case file along with its annexures and all documents (whether relied upon or unrelied upon, if any) be returned to the IO, CBI. IO is at liberty to present the same before the competent court having jurisdiction to adjudicate the present matter," it said.

Advocates Chirag Madan, Ronit Bose, Rahul Agarwal and Rachael Tuli appeared for Veena Sri Ram Rao.

Senior Advocate Sanjay Jain and Special Public Prosecutors Neeraj Jain and Rishi Raj Sharma appeared for the CBI.

[Read order]