Delhi High Court rules against attaching DMRC salary funds on failure to pay arbitral award to Airport Metro

Delhi High Court rules against attaching DMRC salary funds on failure to pay arbitral award to Airport Metro

States that Delhi Metro was accorded protection for its salaries and other expenses

The Delhi High Court has said that funds reserved for salaries, operations and management to run the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will not be attached in case of failure to pay the unpaid arbitral award to the Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL).

While disposing of DMRC’s review petition against the attachment of its assets, Justice Yashwant Varma noted as per the earlier 2022 court order, DMRC was accorded protection for its salaries and other expenses.

Recently, the bench had asked the Centre and the Delhi government to take a decision on the “extension of sovereign guarantee/subordinate debts, enabling it to liquidate its liabilities under the award within two weeks.” It had ordered DMRC to deposit the entire award, along with interest within a month, if both decided to extend the sovereign guarantee.

Justice Varma, however, said that in case the parties did not proceed accordingly, DMRC’s total funds would be attached.

Meanwhile, the court earlier adjourned the case to April 24 after noting that the Centre and the Delhi government had filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court against the order.

However, a team of lawyers from DMRC pressed the matter for an urgent hearing. They contended there would be massive problems if an interim relief was not granted.

The court, thus, allowed the corporation to use the funds from its accounts only for salaries operations and management purposes.