Delhi HC To Hear Lender Banks Plea In DAMEPL-DMRC Case On February 21

The Delhi High Court on Thursday said that it will hear on February 21 a plea by certain banks in the ongoing execution proceedings by Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL) against the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation concerning an arbitral award of over Rs 4,600 crore in its favour.

Senior lawyer Ramji Srinivasan told Justice Suresh Kumar Kait that he represented the “lenders to the project” undertaken by the two entities and has filed an application which may be listed for hearing “so as to ensure that monies are kept and not disbursed outside but to the lenders”. 

“Delhi Airport Metro is the decree-holder under the award and about Rs 6,000 crore have to be paid by Delhi Metro. Out of this, they have complied with the first part (by depositing Rs 1000 crore)...  There are balance amounts and that Delhi Airport, which has taken money from me, has pressed before your lordship,” the counsel explained. 

“Whoever wins in this battle, one way or the other, it is clear that they owe money to me... I'm here. These are very large amounts owed to me,” he added. 

Srinivasan stated that the outstanding amount to the lenders was more than Rs 9,000 crores when the amount which has to come from the present proceedings is about Rs 6,000 crore. 

Senior advocate Rakesh Kumar Khanna, appearing for DAMEPL, said that there is no court asking the banks to “come and give the account”. 

“Let his application come. Suppose tomorrow they say this was the liability and the amount was not to be taken out. We will consider his application. Make it Monday or Tuesday,” Justice Kait said. 

The judge clarified that no adjournment would be granted on the next date of hearing i.e. February 21 and asked that the affidavit filed by DMRC on its latest bank account details be brought on record. 

In the affidavit, DMRC has stated that as on February 14, it has a total of Rs 5,694.25 crore as funds which include Rs 1,452.10 crore as DMRC funds and Rs 2,681.29 has project funds. 

Earlier this week, the court had directed DMRC to give details of its funds and balance sheet.  

Senior advocate Parag P Tripathi, appearing for DMRC, had said that there was a genuine dispute concerning the payable amount as according to them and the amount lying in DMRC's account was earmarked for several projects and other purposes and was not its own money which can be given away under the law.

On January 24, the Supreme Court had asked DMRC and DAMEPL to request the high court to hear the dispute relating to the execution of the arbitral award, saying that any further delay is detrimental to the interest of both the parties.

Last year, DMRC had told the court that since the corporation was facing a “financial crunch”, undertaking a “sudden liability” would impact public interest and authorities were therefore working out a solution. It had said that it would deposit Rs 1,000 crore in favour of DAMEPL in an escrow account and suggested taking over the debt of the Reliance Infrastructure subsidiary to the extent of the award money, saying that it would be a better position to negotiate with the lender banks.

The offer was however turned down by DAMEPL and the court had observed that if the decree-holder did not want to accept the proposal, it could not be forced to do so.

The Delhi High Court had earlier also pulled up DAMEPL for playing hide and seek with the court and holding out-of-court communications with DMRC to settle the dispute relating to the execution of the over Rs 4,600 crore arbitral award passed against the PSU.

An arbitral tribunal in its May 2017 award had ruled in favour of DAMEPL, which had pulled out from running the Airport Express metro line over safety issues, and accepted its claim that the running of operations on the line was not viable due to structural defects in the viaduct through which the train would run.

The arbitral award pertained to a concession agreement between the two entities, which was signed on August 25, 2008. Under the agreement, DMRC was to carry out the civil works, excluding at the depot, and the balance, including the project system works, were to be executed by DAMEPL, a joint venture of Rinfra and a Spanish construction company -- Construcciones Y Auxiliar De Ferrocarriles -- with a shareholding of 95 and five per cent respectively. 

DAMEPL had borrowed from 11 banks -- Axis Bank, UCO Bank, Punjab, and Sind Bank, Andhra Bank, Central Bank of India, Dena Bank, Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of India, IIFC UK, and Canara Bank London -- to carry out operations on the line.

The Airport Express line was commissioned on February 23, 2011, after an investment of over Rs 2,885 crore, funded by the DAMEPL's promoters' fund, banks, and financial institutions.