Bombay high court defers Vodafone tax case hearing

The Bombay high court on Tuesday deferred a hearing on Vodafone Plc's dispute with the Indian tax office, a spokesperson for Vodafone said.

The court has not specified a new date for further hearing.

Vodafone had filed a writ petition with the court last October, disputing the tax office move to treat it as an agent of the seller in its 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa's mobile business in India.

Vodafone is contesting a $2.5 billion tax bill in India over the acquisition and had appealed to India's Supreme Court challenging a lower court order that Indian tax office had jurisdiction over tax bills in cross-border deals.

Vodafone's appeal with the Supreme Court is scheduled to come up for hearing on July 19.

In November, the Supreme Court asked Vodafone to deposit Rs25 billion ($552 million) and make a bank guarantee worth Rs85 billion as an interim arrangement.