The Indian government's refusal to honour the award of an international arbitration tribunal to pay Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy its dues is becoming increasingly embarrassing. While the energy major has registered cases in various countries - the US, Netherlands, Germany, etc - for seizing government assets like Air India's aircraft, a French court has obliged and ordered a freeze on 20 Indian properties in central Paris. In a nutshell: The tax department seized and sold a 10 per cent stake in Cairn’s Indian operations in lieu of tax claims for purported capital gains related to restructuring of the company in 2006. The tax department relied on an amendment to the Finance Act which allowed levy of taxes retrospectively since 1962.