Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infra wins Rs 2,782 crore arbitral award towards DMRC

The Supreme Court Thursday upheld a 2017 arbitral award of Rs 2,782.33 crore with additional curiosity favouring Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure-promoted Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt Ltd (DAMEPL) in reference to the development of the 22.7-km Airport Metro Express Line challenge.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat upheld the May 11, 2017, award to DAMEPL and put aside the January 15, 2019, order of the Delhi High Court division bench which partly put aside the arbitral award.

DMRC had invoked arbitration after DAMEPL terminated the concession settlement on the bottom that defects identified in development weren’t cured by DMRC inside the stipulated 90 days.
As per the concession settlement, all civil works in addition to appointment of consultants, land acquisition, and different clearances from the federal government and different authorities had been to be obtained by DMRC whereas the design, provide, set up, testing and commissioning of assorted techniques like rolling inventory, energy provide, overhead gear, signalling, monitor system, platform, display screen doorways, air flow, architectural ending and so on. had been to be offered by DAMEPL.
However, with flaws being observed within the development after it had begun operations, DAMEPL despatched discover to DMRC “to cure the defects” in 90 days.
The Arbitral Tribunal “undertook an in-depth analysis of the defects in the civil structure and steps taken for their repair/rectification” and “concluded that there were as many as 1,551 cracks in 367 girders, i.e., 72% of the girders were affected by such cracks”. It additional held that “these defects were neither cured nor effective steps taken by DMRC within the cure period up to 08.10.2012, constituting a material breach on the part of DMRC”.
DMRC challenged this within the High Court the place a single decide upheld the award. But on attraction, a division bench reversed the only decide findings and partly put aside the arbitral award towards which DAMEPL approached the SC.
The SC mentioned that courts, whereas coping with purposes filed underneath Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, “are mandated to strictly act in accordance with and within the confines of Section 34, refraining from appreciation or re-appreciation of matters of fact as well as law”.
The court docket mentioned there’s “no ambiguity in the findings of the Arbitral Tribunal regarding the time given for curing the defects and the effective date of termination of the Concession Agreement” and, due to this fact, it’s “not in agreement with the findings of the Division Bench that there is an ambivalence in the award concerning the date of termination, having a bearing on the final outcome of the award”.
The SC additionally flagged what it termed is “a disturbing tendency of courts setting aside arbitral awards, after dissecting and reassessing factual aspects of the cases to come to a conclusion that the award needs intervention and, thereafter, dubbing the award to be vitiated by either perversity or patent illegality, apart from the other grounds available for annulment of the award”, and mentioned “this approach would lead to corrosion of the object of the 1996 Act and the endeavours made to preserve this object, which is minimal judicial interference with arbitral awards”.
The ruling added “that apart, several judicial pronouncements of this Court would become a dead letter if arbitral awards are set aside by categorising them as perverse or patently illegal without appreciating the contours of the said expressions”.
Anuj Dayal, DMRC government director, company communications, mentioned: “The Hon’ble Supreme Court has pronounced judgment in the Airport Metro Express line matter today and the appeal of DAMEPL has been allowed. The judgment is being currently analysed for future course of action.”