Delhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC) agreed to deposit Rs. 1,000 crores to Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL). DMRC told Delhi High Court on Monday that it plans to pay this amount within the next 48 hours. With this disclosure, DMRC said that right now it’s not in a position where they can pay the entire amount of the 2017 arbitral award to Reliance infrastructure’s subsidiary DAMPEL.
Previously, the Supreme Court gave a ruling in favor of DAMPEL back in September this year. The DAMPEL decided to file a petition before HC this time. The reliance infrastructure arm was unable to repay banks and many other financial institutions. Facing a huge financial crisis is what provoked them into taking this measure.
Tushar Mehta, the Solicitor General of India and also a DMRC representative at the same time said that they are working on finding solutions to the problem which the infra arm is going through. According to him, financial crunch, as well as unexpected liabilities, are not good for the public interest. They don’t want to harm the public interest or become a hindrance in the money. He went on to request a three-week time from Suresh Kumar Kait, the court of Justice since they need to borrow money from some institution before making payment.
Mehta said to the court that DMRC is willing to pay Rs. 1,000 crore within 48 hours to DAMPEL. To which the court directed them to an Escrow Account where they can deposit the amount within the time limit. According to the court, DMRC doesn’t have the option of denying money especially when the reliance subsidiary is under so much debt. However, in the hearing, DMRC continued its claim that it has to pay Rs.5,000 crore whereas DAMPEL on the other hand believes that DMRC owes them Rs. 7,000 instead. The court hearing ended with a listing of the next hearing date on 22 December.