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 of 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.
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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 the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor. While Reliance Infrastructure holds a 74% stake, the rest is with MMRDA.
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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 ₹2,356 crore to ₹4,321 crore, which the MMRDA contested.
