Reliance Infrastructure subsidiary, Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt. Ltd. (DAMEPL) filed a petition with the Delhi High Court on January 7, stating that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), for contempt of court, failed to comply with the latest court order issued on December 22 who had ordered DMRC to disclose all their bank accounts and the funds in those accounts within a week.
DAMEPL’s claim is in response to DMRC’s affidavit filed Jan. 5 in which it made partial / limited disclosure of its bank accounts only with respect to Rs. 1642.69 crore out of total funds of Rs. 5,800.93 crore which he disclosed to the court through his last affidavit filed on December 21, 2021.
In its request, DAMEPL states that DMRC intentionally failed to provide details of its remaining funds and bank accounts, which is clearly a contempt and contempt for the Delhi HC ordinance.
DAMEPL says that DMRC’s conduct makes it clear that it is deliberately trying to frustrate and delay the process of enforcing the arbitration award, and also to ensure that the next hearing scheduled for January 11 becomes ineffective.
The delay in paying the arbitration award by DMRC costs the taxpayer an additional interest charge of almost Rs 1.75 crore per day.
According to DAMEPL, the DMRC, in its latest affidavit filed on December 21 in the Delhi High Court, had informed that it had a total of funds worth Rs 5,800.93 crore, as of December 17, 2021. Of this total, Rs. 1642.69 crore was classified as DMRC fund, Rs. 2412.12 crore as project fund and balance of Rs. 1746.12 crore as other than DMRC fund.
DAMEPL, in its request, requested Delhi HC to order DMRC to comply with the previous Court Order in letter and spirit and to provide full details of all of its bank accounts and funds in in these accounts as well as the respective bank statements, no later than the next hearing date, January 11.
The Supreme Court (CS) on September 7, 2021, upheld the arbitration award of Rs. 7,200 crore in favor of DAMEPL.
DAMEPL then filed an enforcement motion at the Delhi HC on September 12, 2021, seeking court instructions from the DMRC for honoring the SC order and paying Rs. 7,200 crore to the company. DMRC, out of Rs 7200 crore, has so far paid Rs 1000 crore.
Judge Suresh Kumar Kait’s bench on the last court date noted DMRC’s submission advising the court that it had 1642 cr. in their bank account. After taking note, the court ordered DMRC to file an affidavit containing details of its bank accounts as well as the amount of the balance.
Previously, the DMRC informed the Delhi High Court that it agreed to deposit Rs 1,000 crore into an escrow account and requested more time to calculate the amount to be paid in the arbitration dispute with Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt Ltd ( DAMEPL) from Reliance Infrastructure.
In 2008, DAMEPL entered into a contract with DMRC for the operation of the airport metro line until 2038.
As disputes arose between the parties, DAMEPL ceased to operate the metro on the airport line and invoked the arbitration clause against DMRC alleging breach of contract, and demanded termination compensation.
(Only the title and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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