Indian Court Defers Vodafone Tax Dispute Hearing To Aug 2

8th Jul 2010 11:25

MUMBAI (Dow Jones)--The Bombay High Court has deferred hearing Vodafone's appeal against a INR120 billion ($2.54 billion) tax charge until Aug. 2. "On Thursday in the Bombay High Court, the counsel for the tax office asked for an adjournment of the matter and the court rescheduled a date for the full hearing on the matter to 2 August," Vodafone Group's spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The charge relates to the mobile phone operator's $11.2 billion acquisition of a 67% stake in Hutchison Essar Ltd. in 2007. India's tax department slapped Vodafone International Holdings BV--the Netherlands-based unit of Vodafone that carried out the acquisition--with a tax bill, saying the company was liable as the deal involved the transfer of an Indian asset. But Vodafone International filed a high court appeal against claim, saying it wasn't liable as it bought the stake in Hutchison Essar--renamed Vodafone Essar--from CPG Ltd. in a deal that took place on foreign soil. CPG is registered in the Cayman Islands and owned by Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd. Vodafone International Holdings said earlier it remains fully confident that no tax is payable. -By Kenan Machado, Dow Jones Newswires; +91 22 6145 6107; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 08, 2010 06:25 ET (10:25 GMT)