Vedanta To Appeal Against SEBI Order Of Rs 78-Crore Payout To Cairn UK
The market regulator has given the company 45 days to make the payment.
Vedanta Ltd. will appeal against SEBI's order to pay Rs 77.6 crore to Cairn UK Holdings Ltd., along with interest on the delayed dividend payment.
The mining conglomerate had no intention to withhold the dividend payment from Cairn and it had deposited the same in an "unpaid dividend account" as per law, according to an exchange filing on Wednesday.
The dividend payment by Vedanta to Cairn was subject to a tax dispute between the British firm and the Indian government. The dividend was to be released by Vedanta as per the orders of the Income Tax Department, which was subsequently released after the orders of the department.
"It was purely the unique circumstances that Cairn UK found itself in with the Income Tax department of the Government of India in 2016–17 that led to the delay," the filing said.
The order came after the Securities and Exchange Board of India received a complaint on April 13, 2017, from Cairn UK, alleging non-payment of dividends of Rs 340.6 crore by Cairn India, which was merged with Vedanta on April 11, 2016, in respect of over 18 crore equity shares of Cairn India owned by CUHL.
The market regulator has given the company 45 days to make the payment.
"When Cairn UK reached a settlement with the Government of India in its tax dispute, all dues were cleared, including the said dividend amount. Also, as per the settlement with GOI on the tax dispute, Cairn UK undertook to surrender its rights to claim interest on such a tax refund," the company said.
Vedanta said it has an "exemplary record" in the payment of dividends and the Rs 667 crore is "a very small amount" in the context of the amount of dividend the company pays.
Shares of the company closed 6.83% lower at Rs 251.85 apiece on the BSE, compared to a 1.23% decline in the benchmark Sensex.
