Comments
The Delhi High Court has ordered Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to pay Anil Ambani-backed Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt Ltd (DAMEPL) the full arbitration award as per the 2017 order, within two months.
“ The award dated 11.05.2017 has attained finality and cannot be allowed to remain as a paper award, therefore, the judgment debtor (DMRC) is duty bound to either divert its finds shown to be available in different heads mentioned in the affidavit of 14.02.2022 after seeking permission of the Central Government, if necessary, or raise loans to satisfy the award,” the Delhi High Court said on Thursday.
“Accordingly, out of the funds available under the head total DMRC funds of ₹1,452.10 core, judgment debtor is directed to keep aside amount of ₹628 crores (₹514 crore+ ₹114 crores) towards statutory expenses...and from the remaining amount, part payment of decreetal amount be made within two weeks. For the remaining outstanding amount, judgment debtor is directed to make the payments in two equal instalments within two months. The first instalment shall be paid on or before 30.04.2022 and the second instalment shall be made on or before 31.05.2022,” the court ruled.
Banks contention
On the contention of Canara Bank and Union Bank that they had lent huge amount of money to the Reliance group entity and they are liable to recover the said amount out of the decretal awarded amount to be paid by DMRC, the court said “I find that for any outstanding dues payable by the decree holder to these applicants, separate proceedings are required to be initiated and applicants cannot be permitted to settle their scores in the present petition.”
The case
In 2008, an agreement was entered into between DMRC and Reliance Infra’s special purpose entity DAMEPL for design, installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of Airport Metro Express Line. In 2012, DAMEPL complained of faulty design and quality in the installation of viaduct bearings.
A notice was issued by DAMEPL asking DMRC to cure the defects in DMRC’s works within 90 days from the date of the notice, failing which it shall be treated as a breach of the agreement. DAMEPL then issued a notice terminating the concession agreement as, according to it, the defects were not cured within a period of 90 days, resulting in an event of default under the concession agreement. DMRC filed for arbitration claiming that the termination notice issued by DAMEPL was illegal and asked for compensation of ₹3,173 crore with an interest of 18 per cent per annum. According to Reliance, the total outstanding award now stands at ₹6,330 crore.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.