The Supreme Court of India has ruled in favour of Vodafone in its Rs 11,000 crore tax dispute case, reports Economic Times. It said that the Indian Tax Department had no jurisdiction to tax the transaction since it happened offshore in Caymen Islands between two foreign entities Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (HTIL) & Vodafone International Holdings (VIH), which was basically Vodafone's argument earlier. The court also noted that HTIL or VIH was not a short time investor and had existed since 1994, contributing around Rs 20,242 crores by the means of direct and indirect taxes on its business operations in the country. The Supreme court ordered the Income tax department to return Rs 2,500 crore deposited by Vodafone in 2010, in the next two months, along with interest calculated at the rate of four percent per annum. from the date of withdrawal by the department up to the date of payment. It also ordered its registry to return the Rs 8,500 crore bank guarantee deposited by Vodafone within the next four weeks. In a media statement responding to the Court ruling, Vodafone said: Vodafone has maintained consistently throughout the legal proceedings that this transaction was not taxable and we are pleased with today’s judgment in the Supreme Court. Vittorio Colao, CEO of Vodafone, said: “We are a committed long-term investor in India and we have made clear all along that we have faith in the Indian judicial system. We welcome the Supreme Court's decision, which underpins our confidence in India.…
