South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics will have to find its own legal remedy to get Chairman Lee Kun-Hee exempted from appearing before a Ghaziabad trial court.

The Supreme Court, on April 2, had ordered Lee to appear before the Ghaziabad Court within six weeks in a case involving a dispute over non-payment of $1.4 million by the multinational to a New Delhi-based vendor, JCE Consultancy.

“It (seeking an exemption) is between Samsung and the courts. There is very little room for us to do anything at the moment,” said Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP).

Kant said that the Department would help the Korean firm with any information it requires on the company that had filed the case. Samsung has claimed that the company was fake. It has sought information from the DIPP to build a strong case.

“Samsung wants to know whether such a company actually exists; how much it has exported, and so on. We will certainly help it,” the Secretary added.

The dispute dates back to 2001-02 and the case was filed by JCE in 2005. JCE claims that it had sold goods to Sky Impex, a Dubai-based firm, which had purchased the products on behalf of Samsung Gulf Electronics, Dubai, a unit of the Korean firm. The Indian company says it never received payment for the goods.

Samsung had approached the DIPP seeking help to have a junior official represent the company. The apex court had said Lee would have to appear before the local court to seek bail and an exemption from further hearings.

Kant said the DIPP would consult the Law Ministry and examine legal options to see how Samsung could handle the problem.

Incidentally, Lee is South Korea’s richest person, with a net worth of $12.9 billion, according to Forbes.

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