Following the Supreme Court order, the Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt Ltd (DAMEPL) has filed a fresh application in the Delhi High Court seeking direction to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to deposit Rs 6208 crores available in its various banks accounts into project escrow account without any delay. DAMEPL has also rejected any out of court negotiations / settlement or assignment of debt to the Delhi Metro.
Requesting the Delhi High Court to pass an order listing the instant Execution Petition for final hearing and disposal in the first week of February 2022, DAMEPL in its application said that the present application is made bonafide and in the interest of justice. "It is reiterated that the delay in payment by DMRC is causing immense prejudice to DAMEPL and its Promoter, Reliance Infrastructure Limited. In case the reliefs as sought for are not granted, the Decree Holder shall suffer irreparable loss and injury”, DAMEPL said in the application.
“Consequently, the Decree Holder prays that the Judgement Debtor may be directed to satisfy the remaining amount of the decree, amounting to Rs. 6305.40 crores as on 31 January 2022, by depositing the entire amounts available in the Judgement Debtor's accounts (as disclosed on 10 January 2022), namely Rs. 6208.03 crores, into the Project Escrow Account and, for the remaining amount of Rs. 97.37 crores [6305.40 crores - 6208.03 crores = 97 .3 7 crores] as on 31 January 2022 plus further interest till the date of actual payment, the Judgement Debtor may be directed to arrange funds and make payment to the Decree Holder,” reads the application.
The Supreme Court has earlier asked the Delhi Metro and the Reliance Infrastructure’s subsidiary, DAMEPL to appear before the Delhi High Court on January 31 and request it to hear the dispute relating to execution of the over Rs 4,600 crore arbitral award to DAMEPL at the earliest.A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai said the hearing on the execution application does not brook any further delay as it is detrimental to the interest of both the parties.The apex court on September 9, 2021 had upheld the 2017 arbitration award of around Rs 4,600 crore in favour of DAMEPL, enforceable against the Delhi Metro.
DAMEPL, its its plea, has stated that non payment of Termination Fee since 2013 by Delhi Metro has caused immense damage to DAMEPL and its promoter company, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. Reliance Infrastructure had infused Rs 2513 crores to DAMEPL by taking loans from 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 DAMEPL and Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.
“The delay in satisfying the arbitral award is adding an incremental daily interest of Rs.1.76 crores per day on Delhi Metro and this amount cumulatively comes to 260 crores, for the period from 10 September 2021 to till 31 January 2021,” the application said.
