Devas-Antrix feud: Bengaluru court rejects ED plea for proclamation order against US-based Devas CEO

A proclamation order issued under section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), as sought by the ED, would make it mandatory for a person accused in a case to present themselves in court in 30 days.

The ED sought the proclamation order against the Devas CEO even as three Mauritius based investors in Devas Multimedia moved a federal court in the US again to find assets of Antrix Corp. and its alter egos—Isro and New Space India Limited—to enforce an international compensation award made to Devas Multimedia over the 2005 satellite deal that was annulled by the Indian government in 2011.

The ED, while seeking a proclamation order against the Devas CEO, stated that Vishwanathan continues to remain outside India to evade action by the law enforcement agencies. The special court, while rejecting the ED application through a March 5 order, has observed that a non-bailable warrant against the Devas CEO was issued only on February 18 and that sufficient time had not elapsed since the warrant.

“It is pertinent to note that a non-bailable warrant is still in its infant stages. But, now the prosecution wants to issue a proclamation against these accused. Admittedly, as per the language of Section 82 of CrPC, proclamation can be ordered on a person against whom a warrant has been issued,” the court said.

“On issuance of such a warrant, the court must be satisfied that a person is absconding or concealing himself so that such non-bailable warrant cannot be executed. Since the very non-bailable warrant issued by this court is still in its infant stages, it cannot be held that the stage is right for issuance of proclamation,” the special court observed.

“Even though the accused No.2 has not appeared before the court, the court cannot sacrifice procedure to meet the urgency of prosecution. When the statute has provided protection to the accused, the same must be followed. Or in other words, without making an effort to get the non-bailable warrant executed, the prosecution cannot seek issuance of the proclamation against the accused No.2,” the court stated.

Delay in summons

Incidentally, the ED was able to serve summons for the appearance of the US-based executive of Devas in the Bengaluru court only around November 2021—nearly three years after filing a charge sheet for money laundering against Vishwanathan and others. The court was informed by the ED through a report of November 10, 2021, that summons had been served through diplomatic channels on the CEO.

The delay in the summoning of the key accused has resulted in a delay in the start of the trial of the money laundering case. In September 2021, the special court rejected a plea by the ED to split the trial in the money laundering case into two—one against eight accused served summons and another trial against two who were unavailable, including the CEO and US arm of Devas Multimedia.

The Devas Multimedia founder and CEO Vishwanathan and the US subsidiary DMAI are among 10 individuals and entities accused of money laundering by the ED in a charge sheet filed in July 2018. Among others accused in the case are several senior Devas officials, three subsidiaries of the firm and a former executive director of the Antrix Corporation—the commercial arm of the state-run Isro.

The ED filed its charge sheet in 2018 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Viswanathan, a director of the firm M G Chandrashekar, Devas CTOs Desaraju Venugopal, Nataraj Dakshinamurthy, a finance director Ranganathan Mohan, three Devas subsidiaries, and former executive director of Antrix Corp K R Sridharamurthy.

In its charge sheet, the ED has alleged that Devas Multimedia transferred 85 per cent of Rs 579 crore of foreign funding it received through a 2005 satellite deal with Isro to the US under various claims.

Under the 2005 deal, Isro was contracted to lease two communication satellites for 12 years at a cost of Rs 167 crore to Devas Multimedia. The start-up was to provide video-audio services to mobile platforms in India using the space band or S-band spectrum transponders on Isro’s GSAT 6 and 6A satellites built at a cost of Rs 766 crore by the Indian space agency.

The Devas Multimedia-Antrix Corp agreement was annulled by the UPA government in February 2011 following allegations of the contract being a “sweetheart deal” in the backdrop of the 2G scam. After the NDA government came to power in 2014 the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED were asked to investigate the 2005 deal. The CBI has also filed a charge sheet against Devas, Antrix and former Isro officials over the satellite deal.