K'taka HC upholds seizure of Rs.5,551 crore from Xiaomi for FEMA violation
Bengaluru, Apr 21: The High Court of Karnataka on Friday upheld the seizure of Rs 5,551.27 crore from Xiaomi India for violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had seized the amount from the company's account and this was upheld by the Competent Authority. Xiaomi had challenged the Competent Authority's order in the HC.
On Friday, Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed the petition holding that it was valid under Section 37 A of FEMA. However, liberty was granted to Xiaomi to approach the Appellate Tribunal and challenge the Competent Authority's order under Section 37A(5).
The ED had in 2022 ordered the seizure of Rs.5,551.27 crore in the accounts of Xiaomi for allegedly violating FEMA rules and transferring money in the guise of royalty to three companies outside India; two in the USA and one in China.
The company had approached the HC against this order. The HC had however ordered it to approach the Competent Authority under FEMA. The Competent Authority had upheld the seizure.
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Xiaomi had approached the HC again challenging the Competent Authority's order. After hearing the arguments, Justice M Nagaprasanna had reserved the judgement on November 17, 2022.
Xiaomi had challenged the Constitutional validity of Section 37A of FEMA, which authorises the Authorised Officer prescribed by the central government to order seizure of property held outside India for violating Section 4 of the Act. The Court in its judgment has said that Xiamoi's challenge to the Section is maintainable, but since there was no arbitrariness in the Section 37A, it was "Constitutional".
The ED had given the seizure order to freeze the amount from the bank accounts of Xiaomi on April 29, 2022.
The Competent Authority confirmed the order on September 29, 2022. Xiaomi filed the petition on October 3, 2022 challenging it.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
