Cairn Energy Sues Air India to Enforce $1.2 Bn Arbitration Award

British oil and gas firm Cairn Energy moved a US court to sue Air India to enforce a $1.2 billion arbitration award that it won in December last year over a tax dispute with India, according to news agency Reuters.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Friday, 14 May, the Reuters report added. It seeks to make the flagship carrier liable for the amount it won in the judgement, arguing that Air India is a state-owned company and is therefore "legally indistinct from the state itself."

The report quoted the lawsuit, which states, "The nominal distinction between India and Air India is illusory and serves only to aid India in improperly shielding its assets from creditors like (Cairn)."