Supreme Court says Delhi Metro not obliged to pay ₹8,000 crore to Anil Ambani’s firm

In a major relief to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed its previous order in which it had asked the DMRC to pay an arbitration award of ₹8,000 crore to Anil Ambani's firm.

A special bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Wednesday held that the top court erred in setting aside the Delhi High Court verdict.

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

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The special bench also said that that amounts deposited by the DMRC till date shall be refunded and restored the parties to their position in which they were on the date of pronouncement of the Delhi High Court verdict.

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

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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.

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With the case going on for years, the arbitrala mount with interest swelled to ₹8,009.38 crore till February 14, 2022. 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.

The shares of Reliance Infrastructure plunged and were locked in 20% lower circuit of ₹227.60 apiece today.