The controversy-laden Hong Kong Telecom Company, PCCW is yet again in the public purview, after its founder and Chairman Richard Li unveiled plans of appealing the court ruling that froze the $2.1 billion buy out of the telco, citing manipulation of shareholder votes.

The announcement is an instantaneous reaction to the Monday ruling, where judges released a 74-page decree, explaining the reasons behind blocking the deal on April 22.

The buy-out first came under the scanner after more than 800 people abruptly registered as PCCW shareholders shortly before the shareholders meeting held on February 4 and voted to support the privatization plan.

Out of these wary new shareholders, around 494 people are Fortis Insurance agents and friends who received board lots of shares as a "bonus" from Lam Hau Wah, a regional executive director of Fortis Asia.

Fortis Insurance Asia, earlier known as Pacific Century Insurance, is an affiliate of PCCW, before it was acquired by Fortis Group in 2007.

The judge said that the vote on Feb. 4 was clearly manipulated and, “vote manipulation is nothing less than a form of dishonesty.”

Further it added, “there was a clear manipulation of the vote and because of the extent to which that happened the court cannot be sure that the vote was fair,” and therefore could not sanction the deal.

Shares of PCCW tumbled 13 percent from April 23 to May 6 after out break of the scandal and the court ruling that followed.