The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has been asked to pay to DAMPEL an arbitral award of over Rs. 2,700 crore, which has now burgeoned to Rs. 8,000 crore.
The law ministry has flagged legal concerns over the housing ministry’s proposal to amend the Metro Railways Act to put aside any sort of scope of attachment of properties or bank accounts of the Metro Rail companies for execution of any decree or order of any court.
As per the documents show that law ministry sent its observation to the housing and urban affairs ministry last month in response to its proposal to amend the Act in the light of ongoing litigation over the payment of arbitration award to Reliance Infra-led DAMPEL in the Airport Express Metro line project in Delhi.
However, the housing and urban affairs ministry had proposed changes in the law barely days after it submitted to Delhi High Court about its decision to “refrain” from giving any sanction to attach the the moveable and immovable assets of DMRC to pay the arbitration award amount DAMPEL.
Although, in its comments, the law ministry has aid that it presumed that while making proposals for amendment “such aspects” has been duly considered by the housing and urban affairs ministry.
The proposed amendment says that “no stock, metro railway tracks, machinery, plant, tools, fittings, materials or effects used or provided by metro railway administration for the purpose of traffic on its railway, or its stations or workshops, or offices or earnings or any parcel of land held by Metro Rail Administration shall be liable to be taken in execution of any decree or order of any court or any local authority or person having by law the power to attach or distrain property or otherwise to cause the property to be taken in execution”.