India on Sunday criticised the international arbitrator that ruled in favour of Cairn Energy in its tax dispute with the Indian government even as it said it was open to an amicable solution with the UK company.

The Centre challenged the international arbitration tribunal asking it to return $1.2 billion to Cairn Energy on the ground that it had never agreed to arbitrate over a ‘‘national tax dispute’’, the finance ministry said on Sunday.

However, the ministry is open to an amicable solution to the dispute. “The CEO and the representatives of Cairn have approached the Government of India for discussions to resolve the matter. Constructive discussions have been held and the Government remains open for an amicable solution to the dispute within the country’s legal framework,” the ministry statement said. Cairn on May 14 had sued Air India to make the government pay up the arbitration sum.

The ministry also refuted reports that the Government of India has purportedly asked state-owned banks to withdraw funds from foreign currency accounts abroad in anticipation of the potential seizure of such accounts.

While the government appointed a judge on the three-member arbitration panel and fully participated in the proceedings against India seeking Rs 10,247 crore in back taxes from Cairn, the ministry said the tribunal ‘‘improperly exercised jurisdiction over a national tax dispute that the Republic of India never offered and/or agreed to arbitrate’’.

In December last year, Cairn won an award that held the levy of taxes using the 2012 law unfair and the tribunal asked the Indian government to return $1.2 billion plus cost and interest.

The finance ministry called the 2006 reorganisation of Cairn’s India business for listing on the local bourses as ‘‘abusive tax avoidance scheme that were a gross violation of Indian tax laws, thereby depriving Cairn’s alleged investments of any protection under the India-UK bilateral investment treaty’’.

‘‘The award improperly ratifies Cairn’s scheme to achieve double non-taxation, which was designed to avoid paying taxes anywhere in the world, a significant public policy concern for governments worldwide,’’ it said.