The High Court has dismissed a S$388 million (about HK$1.68 billion) case brought against Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) by its regulator to reclaim tax money mistakenly included in compensation paid to the carrier for the early termination of its monopoly.
Government-linked SingTel said yesterday Justice Lai Kew Chai had rejected the claim brought by the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), and ordered the regulator to pay the full costs of the nine-day hearing.
The legal showdown generated intense media interest in the city-state as a procession of government ministers, senior civil servants and leading business executives were called to testify.
The IDA had claimed that the S$1.5 billion compensation package it paid to SingTel in 1997 had mistakenly included tax, which it estimated at S$388 million.
The regulator demanded that the tax element be returned after the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore ruled in 2000 that the package was not taxable. SingTel refused, setting the scene for this month's showdown before Justice Lai.
SingTel president and chief executive Lee Hsien Yang said: 'SingTel is pleased that the High Court has ruled that the company is entitled to keep the full compensation payment made by the IDA.'