HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has restrained Russian-linked entities from transferring shares in Pioneer Aluminium Industries Limited while hearing execution proceedings to enforce foreign arbitral awards worth nearly Rs 2,840 crore.
Justice T Madhavi Devi passed the interim order in a petition filed by German financial institution OWH SE i.L. against firms linked to United Company RUSAL International PJSC. The Court directed AL Plus Holding LLC, a subsidiary associated with the Rusal group, not to dispose of or transfer its shareholding in Pioneer Aluminium Industries Limited — about 26% of the company’s equity — until further orders. The next hearing is scheduled for April 7.
The dispute stems from two international arbitral awards delivered in London by a tribunal under the London Court of International Arbitration, headed by Jonathan Nash KC with Dame Elizabeth Gloster and Andrew Lenon KC as members. According to the enforcement petition, the tribunal awarded EUR 213.77 million on September 25, 2024, and an additional EUR 33.83 million towards interest on August 29, 2025. With accrued interest and litigation costs, the total amount sought to be enforced in India is about `2,840 crore.
OWH SE requested the high court to recognise the arbitral awards as valid and enforce them as court decrees in India. The petitioner informed the Court that enforcement proceedings had already been initiated in several jurisdictions including Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Jersey, England and Wales, Cyprus, Kazakhstan and Qatar, but only a small portion of the award amount had been recovered. It also alleged that the award debtor reorganised its corporate structure and shifted assets among subsidiaries, making recovery difficult.
During the hearing, counsel for OWH SE submitted that Rusal’s investment in India was routed through a layered structure. Rusal owns MK Gershvin LLC, which controls AL Plus Holding LLC, and these entities together hold about 26% stake in Hyderabad-based Pioneer Aluminium Industries Limited. Observing that the arbitral awards had already survived legal challenges in England, the High Court issued the interim order to safeguard the assets and ensure the enforcement proceedings are not frustrated.
Order directing JNTntU to regularise employee stayed
The Telangana High Court on Thursday stayed a single judge’s order directing Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) to regularise the services of an employee working as a record assistant. A bench of Chief Justice AK Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin granted interim stay while hearing the university’s writ appeal.
The employee had sought quashing of a memo issued by JNTU and requested regularisation under GO Ms. No. 212 dated April 22, 1994, along with benefits from the date of completion of five years of service. Allowing the petition earlier, the single judge set aside the memo, noting that the employee had worked as record assistant for nearly two decades, and directed JNTU to regularise his services within four weeks.
The court also ordered consequential benefits including seniority, arrears, pay fixation and promotion benefits. Challenging the order, JNTU filed the appeal. During the hearing, the chief justice observed that many cases relating to regularisation of temporary and contract employees are pending before courts and suggested that the state government frame clear policy guidelines.
The bench referred to the Supreme Court judgment in Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Umadevi (2006), which laid down principles governing regularisation of employees, particularly those who have served for long periods without regular recruitment. The court noted that Jharkhand had implemented these principles and suggested that similar steps could be considered in Telangana.
It also observed that no comprehensive government order or legislation on regularisation had been framed in the State after 1993. The bench asked the Advocate General to place the issue before the authorities. The matter was posted to April 15, and the interim stay will remain in force till then.