'Delay by DMRC in award execution costing taxpayers Rs 1.75 crore daily'

New Delhi: The Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL) has told the Delhi High Court that Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is deliberately trying to delay the execution of the over Rs 4,600 crore arbitral award against it,

which is costing taxpayers a daily interest of almost Rs 1.75 crore.

The Reliance Infrastructure subsidiary, in an application filed in the ongoing execution proceedings before the high court, stated that DMRC is trying to defeat the process by making a "limited disclosure of bank account details only with respect to

Rs 1642.69 crores" in spite of the order directing it to disclose all its bank account details.

It claimed that DMRC, in an affidavit filed in December, had disclosed "total available funds" to the tune of

Rs 5800.93 crores.

"The Decree Holder (DAMEPL) submits that the present application has been necessitated in view of the conduct of the Judgment Debtor (DMRC) of making only partial disclosure of its bank accounts.

"This is only an attempt on part of the Judgment Debtor to delay the process of execution of the decree in favour of the Decree Holder as well as to somehow ensure that the hearing scheduled before this Hon'ble Court on 11 .01.2022 is ineffective," the application filed by DAMEPL said.

An arbitral tribunal in its May 2017 award had ruled in favour of DAMEPL, which had pulled out from running the Airport Express metro line over safety issues, and accepted its claim that the running of operations on the line was not viable due to structural defects in the viaduct through which the train would run.