NEW DELHI: Weeks after the apex court directed the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to pay the arbitral amount to the Reliance Infrastructure Arm, Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL), the DMRC held a special board meeting on Friday. The DMRC directors are exploring all available legal options for the Rs 7,100 crore arbitration award.
According to sources, the DMRC board was presented with both, analysis of the DMRC's legal department of the SC order and the modalities of the payment worked out by the DMRC's finance department.
On September 9, the Supreme Court bench of Justice L Nageshwar Rao and Justice S Ravindra Bhatt delivered a judgment in favour of the DAMEPL. They directed the DMRC to pay the arbitral award amount plus interest to date.
As per the sources, the DMRC had to pay the awarded amounts to the DAMEPL immediately after the award, as post-award interest was approximately Rs 1.75 crores per day. The arbitral tribunal had also awarded pre-award interest on the termination payment as per the concession agreement.
"The original arbitral award, delivered unanimously by the DMRC appointed three-member Arbitral Tribunal was for Rs 4,663 crores in May 2017. In September this year, the arbitral award of Rs 4,663 crores plus interest over four years, stands at approximately Rs 7,100 crores," said a source who is close to the development.
"While the DMRC mulls taking recourse to all available legal options, the mounting interest is to the detriment of the public exchequer as, even in 2013-14, the then Attorneys General and the Solicitor General had advised the DMRC to pay at least 80 per cent of the debt due to the DAMEPL (to save on interest outgo), which was mandated as per the concession agreement," added the source.