The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to submit its balance sheet, along with bank accounts details, by February 17 on an execution petition filed by Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt Ltd (DAMEPL) seeking enforcement of an arbitration award of Rs 6,208 crore in favour of the Reliance Infrastructure's subsidiary.
A bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait also asked both the parties to file their written submissions and slated further hearing in the matter for February 17.
Senior advocate Parag Tripathi, appeared on behalf of DMRC, submitted that the DMRC has already paid Rs 1,000 crore and only about Rs 3,305 crore is remaining now.
He also said around Rs 6,000 crore is lying in various accounts of the DMRC, but is meant for various metro rail projects in the national capital as well as projects in Patna and Maharashtra.
Countering the argument, DAMEPL's counsel Rakesh Kumar Khanna argued that the DMRC is owned by the Central government and the Delhi government, and the submission that the government does not have the money to pay the arbitration award cannot be accepted.
The DAMEPL had recently filed a fresh application requesting the High Court to direct the DMRC to deposit Rs 6,208 crore available in its accounts into the project escrow account without any delay. It had rejected any out-of-court negotiations or assignment of debt.
The DAMEPL says that it wants the execution of arbitral award at the earliest and is not agreeable to any alternate proposal from DMRC. It had also maintained the same position in the Supreme Court, in the last hearing on January 24.
The Supreme Court, in its January 24 order, had stated: "The parties are directed to appear before the High Court on January 31, 2022 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 application without any further delay, as consequences of the pendency of the said application are detrimental to the interest of the petitioner as well as respondent."
Pursuant to this SC order, the DAMEPL's fresh application requested the Delhi High Court to fix an early date in the first week of February for the final hearing and disposal of the execution petition.
The DAMEPL, in its plea, has stated that the non-payment of termination fee since 2013 by the DMRC has caused immense damage to it and its promoter company, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.
Reliance Infrastructure had infused Rs 2,513 crore to the DAMEPL by taking loans from the public sector banks, and the banks have initiated proceedings for liquidation against the company. Any further delay in satisfying the arbitral award will result in irreversible consequences for the DAMEPL and Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, it argued.
The delay in satisfying the arbitral award is adding an incremental daily interest of Rs 1.76 crore per day on the DMRC and this amount cumulatively comes to Rs 260 crore, for the period from September 10, 2021 to January 31, 2021.
The DAMEPL had filed an execution petition in the Delhi HC on September 12, 2021, seeking direction to DMRC for honouring the SC order and paying the dues.
Source : IANS