Direction to help pay dues of arbitral award to DAMEPL

One-liner: The Delhi HC on Friday directed the Centre and the city govt to attend to the request of DMRC for an extension of sovereign guarantees or subordinate debt to enable it to make payment of dues of an arbitral award passed in favour of Reliance Infrastructure-owned Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited.

Decision to be taken by Ministry: The HC said the decision has to be taken by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Delhi govt within two weeks and if the permission is accorded to the DMRC, it will deposit the entire amount payable under the award along with up-to-date interest within a period of one month.

Arbitral award: The HC’s verdict came on an execution petition filed by DAMEPL against the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation over payment of dues of an arbitral award passed in its favour. 

• An arbitral tribunal had in May 2017 ruled in favour of DAMEPL, which had pulled out of running the Airport Express metro line over safety issues

Total amount: Earlier, the court had noted that the total amount of the award with interest till Feb 14, 2022, was ₹8,009.38Cr. Of this, a sum of ₹1,678.42Cr has been paid by DMRC and an amount of ₹6,330.96Cr is still due.

No consensus: DMRC took a stand that it has no funds and despite efforts, the two stakeholders — the Centre and the Delhi govt — have been unable to arrive at a consensus on the ways and means by which the amount payable under the award may be liquidated.

Bottom line: The HC, in its verdict, said when it receives the money from the Union ministry, the DMRC will transfer the amount to the escrow account equal to the total amount payable in terms of the award along with interest.