Mumbai: Hutch and Essar are slugging it out in court for control over BPL Mumbai.
There were heated arguments in court on Thursday over the merger of BPL Mobile with Hutch Essar.
Essar said it would not be able to transfer its BPL mobile shares to Hutch-Essar without the approval of the Department of Telecommunications.
Hutch, on its part, countered that the responsibility for getting the DoT approval is its own.
On Monday, Hutch had invoked the arbitration clause in the dispute to 'preserve the sale shares'.
Hutch's concern is that it cannot be adequately compensated for the sale of shares as they were not listed on the stock exchange and, therefore, cannot be traded or bought freely from the market.
The Bombay Hight Court on Thursday adjourned the proceeding till next Thursday. Advocate Janak Dwarkadas, appearing on behalf of BPL (Essar), submitted that no third party could purchase their shares until the order in this matter was passed.
Arguing on behalf of Hutchison Essar, Advocate Iqbal Chagla contended that 97.5 per cent (Rs 1,616 crore) of the consideration for the share-purchase agreement (SPA) had already been paid to BPL and a sum of about Rs 50 crore remained to be paid.
The approvals from the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) had been applied for and if the application was not approved, it was Hutch's concern, Advocate Chagla contended. But, the transfer of shares was not subject to DoT approval, he contended.
However, Advocate Dwarkadas argued that DoT's approval was a pre-requisite and had to be fulfilled before the transfer of shares as per the agreement drawn for the JV.
The court was also told that the BPL Board of Directors had passed a resolution in May stating that, subject to approval from DoT, all the shares would be transferred in the name of Hutchison Essar.
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