Company abandoned services… can’t give sanction to attach Metro assets: Centre to HC

The Centre and Delhi government are the two equity stakeholders (50% each) in DMRC. On January 17, the HC had issued notice to both governments asking them to address the court on the “ways and means in which the amounts payable under the award are proposed to be made over” to DAMEPL.

On February 27, the HC asked the Centre if it proposes to sanction attachment of DMRC’s assets to pay the unpaid amount.

In an affidavit filed on March 2, the Centre said it could not give such a sanction as it would lead to the “closure of DMRC and bring the city of Delhi to a halt”.

The Centre filed an additional affidavit on March 3 in the matter containing a “noting and its approval” by the competent authority under Section 89(1) of the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act. The same has been filed as an annexure to the affidavit, which includes a note by Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri that states, “Central government is being asked to decide giving sanction to attach the properties of DMRC to pay a company which abandoned/deserted the services of Airport Metro line in the first few years of a 30 year contract.”

The note further states: “Delhi Metro meets commuting needs of almost 60 lakh people from Delhi and NCR on a daily basis. It is the life line of Delhi and NCR. Livelihood of lakhs of people are dependent on it. Any adverse outcome leading to a situation where the public utility grinds to a standstill could lead to a serious law and order problem across the length of metro network of nearly 400 km. I am appalled that we are even being asked to consider something like this.”

While denying permission to attach DMRC properties, Puri invokes section 89 of the Act stating that the same is “explicitly denied” under the provision. Section 89(1) states that no rolling stock, tracks, machinery, stations and offices will be taken for execution of any order of a court, local authority… without “previous sanction of the Central Government”.

“I also direct the division to revisit section 89 of the Metro Act, 2002 and amend the same to make it absolute, so no attachment of its properties or bank accounts or any assets or operations can ever be carried out,” it states.

When contacted by The Indian Express, the Minister declined to comment on the matter.

DAMEPL, which had entered into a 30-year agreement to run the Delhi Airport Express line with DMRC in 2008, had terminated the contract in 2012 citing that defects pointed out in construction were not cured by DMRC within the stipulated 90 days. The company stopped operating the line as of July 2013. The company and DMRC then went through an arbitration process that ended with DAMEPL winning an award of Rs 4,662.59 crore plus interest in May 2017.

Asked about the government’s allegation that DAMEPL had wanted to get out of the contract as it had bid for the project based on expected returns from real estate that had not materialised, a Reliance Infrastructure spokesperson did not respond to requests for a comment.

A DAMEPL official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “The allegations have been duly considered by the Arbitral Tribunal and unanimously rejected in its award in May 2017 as irrelevant, for the determination of the issues before the tribunal. The award has also been confirmed by the Supreme Court in its judgment on September 9, 2021. The Supreme Court has also rejected DMRC’s review petition on November 23, 2021. Hence, the aforesaid allegations do not carry any merit at all.”