Delhi court rules Antrix-Devas ‘main offences’ happened in Bengaluru, returns 8-year-old CBI chargesheet

The case concerns a 2005 deal in which the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s commercial arm, Antrix Corp, leased S-band satellite transponders to Bengaluru-based startup Devas Multimedia for 12 years at a cost of Rs 167 crore. The UPA government annulled the deal in 2011 following allegations that it caused massive losses to the exchequer.

Rao questioned the New Delhi court’s jurisdiction to try the CBI case involving charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). While the CBI opposed the plea, arguing that crucial Cabinet and Department of Space (DoS) decisions involving the Prime Minister’s Office were finalised in the capital, the court observed that the “bare perusal” of documents indicated that the alleged major offences took place in Bengaluru.

“It is further stated that the entire conspiracy in the present case revolves around securing rights over the S Band spectrum from Govt. of India, Department of Space, walloping the first rights of defence establishments and this could have been done only by the approval of and budget allocation approval of Cabinet and thereafter, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, who happened to be Incharge of Department of Space, during the relevant time,” the special court noted while referring to the CBI arguments against the plea for transfer of the case.

The special court highlighted several key events centred in Bengaluru: The joint venture proposal by Forge Advisors was submitted to Antrix Corp in Bengaluru, the Shankara Committee, which vetted the deal, was constituted and met in Bengaluru, and the controversial lease agreement dated January 28, 2005, was signed in Bengaluru.

“However, at the same time, it has to be stated that several acts which lead to the commission of the aforesaid offences, had also taken place in New Delhi. Under such circumstances, the court has to decide whether it has the territorial jurisdiction to try the above offences or should the matter be tried at a court within the territorial jurisdiction of another state (stated to be that of Bengaluru)?” the special court said in its order.

Citing the Supreme Court’s Braj Bhushan Prasad (2001) ruling, the court noted that under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the “place of commission of the main offence” is the sole factor in determining jurisdiction. Allied acts or consequences ensuing elsewhere are insufficient to change the trial venue.

The CBI’s 2018 chargesheet names former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair, Rao, and several other officials.

On September 2, 2025, the special court directed the CBI to probe the roles of former ISRO officials S K Das and R G Nadathur, a former IAS officer, in the Antrix Devas deal. This was after Rao alleged that they were also parties, along with many senior ISRO officials from the early 2000s, to ISRO decisions leading up to the signing of the satellite deal with Devas in 2005, but were not investigated by the CBI.

On March 7, 2026, the CBI filed a supplementary chargesheet against Das and Nadathur following the court-ordered probe into their roles.

Background to Antrix-Devas satellite deal case

Devas Multimedia Pvt Ltd was founded in Bengaluru in 2004 by a group of former ISRO officials and US-based space entrepreneurs with expertise in satellite communications.

Under the failed 2005 Antrix-Devas deal, ISRO was supposed to lease two communication satellites for 12 years at a cost of Rs 167 crore to Devas Multimedia. The startup was to provide multimedia services to mobile platforms in India using the space band or S-band transponders on ISRO’s GSAT 6 and 6A satellites, built at a cost of Rs 766 crore by ISRO.

The UPA government annulled the 2005 Devas-Antrix satellite deal in February 2011, citing the need to reallocate the spectrum allocated to Devas’ satellite services for security reasons. The deal was cancelled after media reports described it as a “sweetheart deal” and another instance of corruption under the UPA regime following the 2G scam.

After the NDA government came to power in 2014, the CBI and ED began seriously investigating the deal, even as the foreign investors in Devas Multimedia – the German telecom major Deutsche Telekom, three Mauritius investors, and Devas Multimedia itself- approached various international tribunals seeking compensation for the failed deal.

Devas Multimedia was awarded $1.2 billion by the International Chamber of Commerce (on September 14, 2015); Deutsche Telekom was awarded $101 million in compensation by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Geneva; and UNCITRAL awarded the Mauritius investors $111 million.

The National Company Law Tribunal in India ordered the liquidation of Devas Multimedia on May 25, 2021, citing fraud in its creation. The Supreme Court of India upheld the NCLT order on January 17, 2022.

Devas Multimedia’s foreign investors are currently fighting legal battles in the US and Europe to realise the compensation amounts awarded by international tribunals for the cancellation of the Antrix-Devas deal by ISRO’s Antrix Corp and the Government of India in 2011.