HC asks DMRC to take clear instructions on paying arbitral award to DAMEPL
New Delhi Jan 31 PTI The Delhi High Court Monday asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation DMRC counsel to take clear instructions on how it will pay the amount of the arbitral award of over Rs 4600 crore to Reliance Infrastructures subsidiary DAMEPL or else face an unpleasant orderJustice Suresh Kumar Kait preponed the date of hearing relating to the execution of the arbitral award passed against the DMRC from March 29 to February 14Mr Parag Tripathi counsel for DMRC on the next date of hearing I dont want to hear anything here or there You have to take clear instructions on how to pay the amount This liability that liability will not work otherwise you will face an unpleasant order the judge saidDMRC counsel assured the court that they will not seek any further accommodationThe high court was adjudicating an early hearing application filed by DAMEPL in pursuance of the Supreme Courts January 24 orderThe parties are directed to appear before the high court on January 31 and seek for advancing the date of hearing We request the high court to take up the matter at the earliest and dispose of the execution application without any further delay as consequences of pendency of this application are detrimental to the interest of the petitioner as well as the respondent the apex court had said in its order while disposing of the appeal filed by DAMEPL challenging the high courts January 11 orderOn January 11 the high court had pulled up decree-holder DAMEPL for playing hide and seek with the court and holding out-of-court communications with judgement debtor DMRC to settle the dispute while arguing before the court that it was not ready to accept the proposal made by the PSUReliance Infrastructures subsidiary had filed an application claiming that DMRC was deliberately trying to delay the execution of the over Rs 4600 crore arbitral award against it which was costing the taxpayer a daily interest of almost Rs 175 croreAn arbitral tribunal in its May 2017 award had ruled in favour of DAMEPL which had pulled out from running the Airport Express metro line over safety issues and accepted its claim that the running of operations on the line was not viable due to structural defects in the viaduct through which the train would runIn December last year DAMEPLs counsel had told the court that as per DMRCs affidavit it had over Rs 5800 crore in its bank accounts as of December 17 2021 with over Rs 1642 crore being its earning and over Rs 2400 crore and Rs 1700 crore being its project allocation fund and deposit fund respectivelyDMRC had stated that since the corporation was facing a financial crunch undertaking a sudden liability would impact public interest and authorities were therefore working out a solutionIt had earlier told the court that it would deposit Rs 1000 crore in favour of DAMEPL in an escrow accountThe award pertained to a concession agreement between the two entities which was signed on August 25 2008 Under the agreement DMRC was to carry out the civil works excluding at the depot and the balance including the project system works were to be executed by DAMEPL a joint venture of R-Infra and a Spanish construction company — Construcciones Y Auxiliar De Ferrocarriles — with a shareholding of 95 and five per cent respectivelyThe Airport Express line was commissioned on February 23 2011 after an investment of over Rs 2885 crore funded by the DAMEPL promoters fund banks and financial institutionsIn November 2021 the Supreme Court had dismissed DMRCs plea seeking a review of its judgement which upheld the 2017 arbitration award in favour of DAMEPL enforceable against it PTI SKV SKV RKS RKS
New Delhi Jan 31 PTI The Delhi High Court Monday asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation DMRC counsel to take clear instructions on how it will pay the amount of the arbitral award of over Rs 4600 crore to Reliance Infrastructures subsidiary DAMEPL or else face an unpleasant orderJustice Suresh Kumar Kait preponed the date of hearing relating to the execution of the arbitral award passed against the DMRC from March 29 to February 14Mr Parag Tripathi counsel for DMRC on the next date of hearing I dont want to hear anything here or there You have to take clear instructions on how to pay the amount This liability that liability will not work otherwise you will face an unpleasant order the judge saidDMRC counsel assured the court that they will not seek any further accommodationThe high court was adjudicating an early hearing application filed by DAMEPL in pursuance of the Supreme Courts January 24 orderThe parties are directed to appear before the high court on January 31 and seek for advancing the date of hearing We request the high court to take up the matter at the earliest and dispose of the execution application without any further delay as consequences of pendency of this application are detrimental to the interest of the petitioner as well as the respondent the apex court had said in its order while disposing of the appeal filed by DAMEPL challenging the high courts January 11 orderOn January 11 the high court had pulled up decree-holder DAMEPL for playing hide and seek with the court and holding out-of-court communications with judgement debtor DMRC to settle the dispute while arguing before the court that it was not ready to accept the proposal made by the PSUReliance Infrastructures subsidiary had filed an application claiming that DMRC was deliberately trying to delay the execution of the over Rs 4600 crore arbitral award against it which was costing the taxpayer a daily interest of almost Rs 175 croreAn arbitral tribunal in its May 2017 award had ruled in favour of DAMEPL which had pulled out from running the Airport Express metro line over safety issues and accepted its claim that the running of operations on the line was not viable due to structural defects in the viaduct through which the train would runIn December last year DAMEPLs counsel had told the court that as per DMRCs affidavit it had over Rs 5800 crore in its bank accounts as of December 17 2021 with over Rs 1642 crore being its earning and over Rs 2400 crore and Rs 1700 crore being its project allocation fund and deposit fund respectivelyDMRC had stated that since the corporation was facing a financial crunch undertaking a sudden liability would impact public interest and authorities were therefore working out a solutionIt had earlier told the court that it would deposit Rs 1000 crore in favour of DAMEPL in an escrow accountThe award pertained to a concession agreement between the two entities which was signed on August 25 2008 Under the agreement DMRC was to carry out the civil works excluding at the depot and the balance including the project system works were to be executed by DAMEPL a joint venture of R-Infra and a Spanish construction company — Construcciones Y Auxiliar De Ferrocarriles — with a shareholding of 95 and five per cent respectivelyThe Airport Express line was commissioned on February 23 2011 after an investment of over Rs 2885 crore funded by the DAMEPL promoters fund banks and financial institutionsIn November 2021 the Supreme Court had dismissed DMRCs plea seeking a review of its judgement which upheld the 2017 arbitration award in favour of DAMEPL enforceable against it PTI SKV SKV RKS RKS
