O.M.P. (COMM) 165/2023 Page 1 of 17

*

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

Reserved on

: 21.07.2023

%

Pronounced on

: 09.10.2023

+

O.M.P. (COMM) 165/2023

IN THE MATTER OF:

IRCON INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

..... Petitioner

Through:

Mr. Suman K. Doval, Mr. Hari

Krishan Pandey and Mr. Preetpal

Singh, Advocates.

versus

DELHI METRO RAIL CORPORATION

..... Respondent

Through:

Mr. Tarun Johri and Mr. Ankur

Gupta, Advocates

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANOJ KUMAR OHRI

JUDGMENT

MANOJ KUMAR OHRI, J.

1. By way of present petition instituted under Section 34 of the

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereafter, the ‘A&C Act’), the

petitioner (hereafter, ‘Contractor’) seeks partial setting aside of the Award

dated 22.11.2022 (hereafter, the ‘impugned award’) in relation to Claim

Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 12 delivered by the Arbitral Tribunal (hereafter, the ‘AT’).

2. The impugned award came to be passed in the context of disputes

Digitally Signed

By:NIJAMUDDEEN ANSARI

Signing Date:09.10.2023

18:14:55

Signature Not Verified

O.M.P. (COMM) 165/2023 Page 2 of 17

arising w.r.t the work of ‘Supply, Installation, Testing and commissioning of

MRTS Project of Phase-III’.

3. The respondent (hereafter, ‘DMRC’) invited bids for the said work,

which was awarded to the Contractor vide Letter of Award dated 17.02.2015

for a total contract value of INR 153,65,61,349/- + USD72,65,823/-. The

Contract period was of 24 months with scheduled date of start as 23.02.2015

and scheduled date of completion as 22.02.2017. A formal Contract was also

executed between the parties. The work was completed on 06.08.2018 i.e.,

after a delay of 18 months. DMRC had granted extensions of time

(hereafter, ‘EOT’) for the entire prolongation of contract without levy of any

liquidated damages.

DISPUTES BEFORE THE AT

4. The Contractor filed its statement of claims (hereafter, ‘SOC’) thereby

raising as many as 12 claims.Claim Nos.2, 3, 4 and 12, that are in issue in

the present proceedings, are extracted hereinbelow:-

Claim No.

Description of Claim

Amount

2(a)

Claim on account of extra

Cost

on

increased

Establishment

Cost

including

Overheads,

Salary of Regular and

Contractual

Staff,

Inspection Vehicle hire

Charges,

etc.

due

to

prolongation of contract

Rs.6,05,50,281.00

Digitally Signed

By:NIJAMUDDEEN ANSARI

Signing Date:09.10.2023

18:14:55

Signature Not Verified

O.M.P. (COMM) 165/2023 Page 3 of 17

2(b)

Claim on account of extra

cost due to payment of

bank charges for repeated

extension

of

Performances

Bank

Guarantee

beyond

stipulated

completion

date

Rs. 43,035.00

2(c)

Claim on account of extra

cost due to extension of

CAR and WC Insurance

Policy

Rs.65,04,290.00

2(d)

Claim on account of Loss

of

Profit

because

of

prolongation of contract

Rs.8,67,59,946.00

2(e)

Claim on account of

Extra

cost

due

to

depreciation

due

to

prolongation of contract

period

Rs. 12,43,393.00

3

Claim on account of

additional cost due to use

of

04 bolt

fastening

system for radius beyond

700 mt.

Rs.1,28,87,297.00

& USD64,987.00

4

Claim on account of

abnormal

increase

in

quantity

of

track

fastenings

INR 1,47,44,999.00

& USD64,987.00

12 Claim on account of

Additional GST burden

Rs.56,40,553.00

5. The Contractor contended that under the Contract, DMRC was

obligated under the Contract to provide the project site progressively. For

the delay of 18 months in completion of the project, the Contractor laid the

entire blame on DMRC. It was contended that DMRC not only delayed in

handing over the project site but also unilaterally changed the design which

Digitally Signed

By:NIJAMUDDEEN ANSARI

Signing Date:09.10.2