Nokia has said that it will now prepare to sell its assets including the Chennai facility to Microsoft after the Delhi High Court on Thursday permitted Finish giant handset giant to do so. This has come as a huge relief to its 7,000 employees.
 
The Income Tax department had frozen Nokia India Private Ltd's assets and accounts for alleged income tax evasion.

The court directed Nokia to pay an interim deposit of Rs. 2,250 crore into an escrow account within one month. The court also ruled that that the tax demand case will continue separately.

Commenting on the development Nokia said that it acknowledges the decision by the Delhi High Court today to release Nokia’s Indian assets, including its Chennai facility, for the planned transfer to Microsoft.

“Our current understanding is that this decision allows for the transfer of the assets. However, Nokia has been asked to meet a number of conditions in the ruling, and still needs to provide the authorities with additional documentation. Nokia expects these conditions to be in line with international treaties and practices”, it said in a statement.
 
Nokia said that it company will now start to prepare for the planned transfer of the assets, but notes that there are still a number of statutory clearances that remain before the assets can transfer. Nokia repeats its call for the Indian government to work with urgency to facilitate the other approvals needed for the transfer and secure employment for the tens of thousands of employees involved.

The Delhi High Court said Nokia Corp as well as Nokia India will be jointly responsible for payment of income tax but categorically stated that Microsoft will not be responsible for any tax liability.

The court however said the income tax department can re-approach the case.
 
The court also asked Nokia to submit a letter of guarantee stating that it will comply with the court's order.
 
A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjeev Sachdeva, on Wednesday reserved its order after hearing arguments from the mobile manufacturing company and the IT department.

Eralier, Nokia had argued that that if the tax row was not resolved by December 12, it could have an impact on the its Finnish parent company Nokia Corp's deal with Microsoft.