The Commercial Court has dismissed a jurisdiction challenge brought by three corporate defendants in the ‘Indian Infoline’ (IIFL) group of companies. Simon Rainey KC, sitting as a deputy judge of the High Court, handed down judgment on 30 March 2023, holding that the claimants had a strongly arguable case which should proceed to trial (Manek & Ors v 360 One WAM Ltd [2023] EWHC 710 (Comm)).
The claims concern the sale of shares in an Indian company, Hermes i-Tickets Pte. Ltd. The claimants sold their shares in Hermes in September 2015 to another Indian company. Some weeks later, they discovered that the same shares had been sold to Wirecard AG, a German publicly-listed bank, for up to ten times more than they had received for them.
The claimants issued proceedings against three individuals and a UK company in the IIFL group in 2017, alleging that they had been induced to sell their shares at an undervalue by fraudulent misrepresentations. They also issued proceedings against Wirecard in 2019. Wirecard applied to strike out the proceedings against it, and, in doing so, relied on a series of documents which demonstrated the role of the IIFL group in the Hermes sales process. In February 2022, the claimants issued further proceedings against three further IIFL group defendants in conspiracy and deceit.
The IIFL defendants applied to challenge jurisdiction on the basis that the claims were time-barred under English, or alternatively Indian, law. The judge held that the claims had a real prospect of success, principally because the claimants could not have discovered material sufficient to plead the claims prior to February 2016, the relevant date under English law. The decision represents an important application of the English rules of limitation in the context of a summary application on a major international fraud and conspiracy claim.
FT reporting of the hearing and decision can be found here: Wirecard suit against Indian group can proceed, High Court rules | Financial Times (ft.com)
https://www.ft.com/content/64e0d734-9d06-41d3-8a50-51d75aaca0ea
Joshua Crow acted for the claimants, led by Anna Dilnot KC (Essex Court Chambers) and instructed by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.
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