SupremeToday Landscape Ad
Back
Next
Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation
Listen Audio Icon Pause Audio Icon
judgment-img

2022 Supreme(Del) 1275

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
C. Hari Shankar, J.
Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Limited, Acting In Its Capacity As Trustee Of The Earc Trusts Sc-338,343,366 And 389 - Appellant
Versus
Gtl Infrastructure Limited & Anr. - Respondents
Review Petition No. 71 of 2021 In Arbitration Appeal . (COMM.) 13 of 2020
Decided On : 04-02-2022

Advocates appeared:
Harish N. Salve, Advocate, Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Advocate, Misha, Advocate, Sidhant Kant, Advocate, Mahima Sareen, Advocate, Moulshree Shukla, Advocate, Daksh Kadian, Advocate, Ramchandar Madan, Advocate, Parag Tripathy, Advocate, D.N.Ray, Advocate, Rohan Rajadhyaksha, Advocate, Ninad Laud, Advocate, Disha Ray, Advocate, Sumita Ray, Advocate, Dillip Kumar Nayak, Advocate, Rajiv Nayar, Advocate, Saket Sikri, Advocate, Ajay Pal Singh Kullar, Advocate

The court emphasized that there was no provision for review of an order passed under Section 9 of the arbitration and Conciliation act, 1996, and that the petitioner's request for deletion of a concluding caveat in the judgment was not justified.

Headnote:

Review Petition - Deletion of concluding caveat in para 56 of the judgement - arb a (Comm) 13/2020 - Summary of the acts and sections referenced and discussed by the court: The court discussed the circumstances surrounding the agreements between the parties, the orders of the learned arbitral Tribunal, and the rights of the third-party secured creditors. The court referred to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC), the arbitration and Conciliation act, 1996, and various judgments including State Bank of India v. Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd (2018) 16 SCC 617, Chloro Control India Pvt. Ltd. v. Severn Trent Water Purification Inc (2013) 1 SCC 641, and others.

Fact of the Case:

The case involved a dispute between GTL Ltd ('GTL') and GIL over a claim of ? 690 crores, which was referred to arbitration. Edelweiss asset Reconstruction Co ('Edelweiss') sought deletion of a concluding caveat in the judgment, dated 18th November, 2020, subjecting the deposit of ? 320 crores to further orders to be passed by the learned arbitral Tribunal.

Finding of the Court:

The court dismissed the review petition, stating that there was no provision for review of an order passed under Section 9 of the arbitration and Conciliation act, 1996. The court also noted that the petitioner had earlier sought clarification of the judgment, and the present review petition sought the same relief. The court further analyzed the merits of the case and concluded that the subjecting of the deposit in the TRa to further orders by the arbitral Tribunal was justified.

Issues: The issues involved the jurisdiction of the court to review an order under Section 9 of the arbitration and Conciliation act, 1996, and the petitioner's request for deletion of a concluding caveat in the judgment.

Ratio Decidendi: The court held that there was no provision for review of an order passed under Section 9 of the arbitration and Conciliation act, 1996. The court also noted that the petitioner had earlier sought clarification of the judgment, and the present review petition sought the same relief. The court further analyzed the merits of the case and concluded that the subjecting of the deposit in the TRa to further orders by the arbitral Tribunal was justified.

Final Decision: The review petition was dismissed, and no orders were made as to costs.

JUDGMENT

C. Hari Shankar, J. - This is a somewhat unusual Review Petition, preferred by the appellant who has, otherwise, succeeded in the appeal.

2. The Review Petition seeks, essentially, deletion from para 56 of the judgement, dated 18th November, 2020, passed by me in arb a (Comm) 13/2020, of the last sentence. Para 56 of the judgment dated 18th November, 2020, reads thus:

'56. The order, dated 5th May, 2020, passed by the High Court of Bombay in the Suit LD-VC No. 55/20, discloses that, consequent to the issuance of the impugned directions, by the learned arbitral Tribunal, a settlement had been arrived at, between GIL and GTL, consequent to which ? 320 crores had been transferred by GIL to GTL. The order also discloses that this amount was, subsequently, transferred back by GTL and stands deposited in the TRa, maintained in accordance with the TRa agreement. The impugned directions of the learned arbitral Tribunal would, therefore, stand modified to the extent that all payments directed thereunder, would be deposited, not with GIL or in an Escrow account to be maintained by GIL, but in the TRa, created and maintained in accordance with the TRa agreement. The said deposit shall remain subject to further orders to be passed by the learned arbitral Tribunal.' (Emphasis supplied)

Edelweiss asset Reconstruction Co ('Edelweiss', hereinafter), the appellant in the appeal and the petitioner in the Review Petition, prays that the concluding caveat in the afore-extracted para 56, subjecting the deposit to further orders to be passed by the learned arbitral Tribunal, be deleted.

3. In order to understand the circumstances in which the present Review Petition has come to be filed, a brief overview of my judgement dated 18th November, 2020, is necessary.

4. among GTL Ltd ('GTL'), the aircel group of companies and Chennai Network Infrastructure Ltd (CNIL), a slew of agreements [(i) Existing Site agreement (ESa) dated 14th January, 2010 between CNIL and aircel, (ii) Energy Management agreement (EMa) dated 14th January, 2010, among CNIL, aircel and GTL, (iii) New Site agreement dated 14th January, 2010 between CNIL and aircel and (iv) TSPI agreement, dated 28th January, 2010, as modified by addendum dated 9th February, 2010, between CNIL and GTL.] were executed. The upshot of these agreements was this. aircel desired to provide telecommunication services, on sites owned by it. CNIL, vide the ESa, agreed to develop the said sites. In pursuance thereof, the EMa obligated CNIL to oversee management of electricity and diesel consumption at the sites. The EMa, however, permitted CNIL to outsource this responsibility. acting under the said permission, CNIL outsourced, to GTL, the responsibility of managing electricity and diesel consumption at the sites provided by aircel. Consequent thereupon, vide the TSPI agreement, GTL agreed, on behalf of CNIL, to procure necessary material for establishing Passage Telecom Infrastructure on the sites provided by aircel, so that they would be converted into completely built-up telecom sites.

5. The NSa obligated aircel to submit 20,000 proposals for sites to be developed by CNIL, over a period of 3 years. Of these, at least 4000 proposals were required to be submitted each year; referred to, in the NSa, as the 'annual Commitment' of aircel. The TSPI agreement obligated CNIL to indemnify GTL against any loss or damages suffered by it, directly or indirectly, on account of failure, on the part of aircel/CNIL to provide the Minimum Commitment of 20,000 new sites to GTL.

6. Consequent on the institution of the above agreements, CNIL issued a Purchase Order, to GTL, on 5th February, 2010, for ? 4350 crores, which was accepted by the GTL. GTL proceeded to source requisite material, to comply with the Purchase Order. CNIL, however, failed to provide details of the sites where the material must be delivered by GTL. This resulted in financial prejudice to the GTL, and the consequent dispute, which was 'settled' for ? 1800

Click Here to Read the rest of this document
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Judicial Analysis

AI

SupremeToday Portrait Ad
supreme today icon
logo-black

An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers

Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance

qr

Scan Me!

India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!

For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :

whatsapp-icon Back to top