The government is reportedly keen to prevent the boss of South Korea's Samsung Electronics from being forced to appear in a court near Delhi in criminal charges over a $1.4-million payment dispute.
"Samsung is one of the largest companies of Korea and it has huge presence and investments in India...it sends a very negative message and will definitely adversely impact the investment and business climate," said Commerce Minister Anand Sharma.
The Supreme Court ordered Lee Kun-Hee, South Korea's richest man, to appear in a Ghaziabad court within six weeks to answer fraud and other criminal charges stemming from the dispute. In its ruling, the Supreme Court made no comment on the merits of the case.
New Delhi-based JCE Consultancy alleges Samsung "cheated" the Indian company out of $1.4 million by failing to pay a bill dating from a 2001-02 transaction and names Lee as among the accused. The case was filed in 2005. Samsung said in a statement Wednesday that Lee had no connection with the case, which the company said involved a "multi-million dollar fraud scheme" perpetrated against a Dubai subsidiary.
The External Affairs and Commerce Ministries are discussing ways to resolve the matter amicably by approaching the Supreme Court with alternative options, said some media reports today, quoting government officials. The Business Standard newspaper quoted a senior unnamed Indian government official as saying Seoul has "threatened to stop all investments coming into India".
The government fears the summons to Lee, who has an estimated net worth of $11.2 billion, could prove another blow to South Korean giant Posco's steel project in the impoverished eastern state of Orissa, the reports said.
The $12-billion Posco project -- the biggest foreign investment in India -- has become emblematic of difficulties facing overseas companies in starting up businesses in India.
The project has yet to start work since being announced nine years ago, after being dogged by environmental, regulatory and land acquisition issues.
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