DMRC not obliged to pay Rs 8000 crore to Anil Ambani’s firm: SC

Delhi metro rail corporation (DMRC) got a major relief on Wednesday after the Supreme Court reversed its previous judgement where it had asked the DMRC to pay an arbitration award of ₹8,000 crore to Anil Ambani's firm.

The apex court said that the DMRC was not obliged to pay over ₹8,000 crore to the Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Ltd (DAMEPL)--a subsidiary of Anil Ambani's Reliance Infrastructure firm.

The DMRC had filed a curative plea against the 2021 judgement where the special bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud held that the top court erred in setting aside the Delhi High Court verdict.

A division bench of the Delhi High Court, in 2019, had set aside the arbitral award passed against the DMRC.

"By setting aside the Delhi High Court judgement, this court (SC) restored a patently illegal award which saddled a public utility with an exorbitant liability," said the bench which also comprised justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant.

The top court noted that the arbitral award caused a huge miscarriage of justice, and directed that execution proceedings in the Delhi High Court will be discontinued.

The court also said that that amounts deposited by the DMRC till date shall be refunded.

The dispute between DMRC and RInfra's subsidiary started out of a "concession agreement" in 2008 over the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Delhi Airport Metro Express Line, reported mint.

The detailed judgement is awaited.

Anil Ambani's Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Ltd (DAMEPL) terminated the agreement in 2012, saying that the DMRC did not fix the structural defects it had identified.

In 2017, DAMEPL's decision to terminate the agreement was valid and won the arbitral award of ₹2,950 crore plus interest.

The 2017 arbitral award was to the tune of ₹ 7,200 crore and the amount along with the interest and other charges swelled up to over ₹ 8,000 crore.

Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Infrastructure Limited, the flagship firm of DAMEPL had termed the curative plea of the DMRC against the top court's decisions as the “whole-sale trial by ambush”.

The top court had earlier dismissed appeal and the review petitions of the DMRC, challenging the arbitral award asking it to pay ₹ 8,000 crore to DAMEPL.

The DMRC had filed the curative plea in August 2022 against the dismissal of its review plea by the top court in 2021.

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