HC Asks MMRDA to Deposit Rs 1,169 Crore Arbitral Award in Dispute With Reliance Infra

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to deposit the arbitration award of Rs 1,169 crore with the court registry in connection with its dispute with the Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL), a subsidiary of Anil Ambani's Reliance Infrastructure.

The MMRDA, a Maharashtra government agency, has moved the HC challenging two orders -- of August 2023 and February 2024 -- passed by a three-member tribunal in arbitration between MMOPL and MMRDA for various disputes including the cost of the metro project.

The MMRDA, in an application, sought an interim stay to the arbitral award till the petition was heard and decided.

Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan on Tuesday refused to grant any interim relief without the amount being deposited.

When parties agreed to submit themselves to arbitration and it culminated in an award, the money decree in the arbitral award is not something "written on water and irrelevant", said the judge.

"Routinely granting a stay and that too without any deposit would run counter to the explicit legislative intervention that was made by Parliament to give teeth and relevance to arbitral awards," the HC said.

The court further said no case was made out for an unconditional stay. If the MMRDA deposited the entire amount by July 15, then the execution of the award would be stayed pending final hearing and decision on the MMRDA's petition, it added.

MMOPL, a joint venture of Reliance Infrastructure and MMRDA, operates Mumbai's first metro line on Versova -Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor.

While Reliance Infrastructure holds 74 per cent stake, the rest is with MMRDA.

The disputes between the two parties relate to the development, design, engineering, financing, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance of metro rail under a 2007 agreement.

The metro rail project started with a delay of over two years. MMOPL claimed that the project costs increased from Rs 2,356 crore to Rs 4,321 crores, which the MMRDA contested.