The government on Thursday announced the scrapping of the controversial contract between Isro’s commercial arm, Antrix Corporation, and Devas Multimedia due to strategic reasons.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, law and justice minister M. Veerappa Moily said the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) decided to annul the contract that Antrix had entered into with Devas. “The agreement for the lease of space segment capacity on Isro/Antrix S-Band spacecraft by Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd, entered into between Antrix Corporation and Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd on January 28, 2005, shall be annulled forthwith,” Dr Moily said.
“When the question of strategic requirement arises, the government cannot give S-band spectrum even to Antrix for commercial use,” the minister said, adding that the decision to annul the agreement was taken after careful examination of the matter.
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On the alleged threat of Devas Multimedia to move court if the government took any unilateral decision to terminate the deal, Dr Moily said if the company went to court they are “unlikely to succeed”.