The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) owes Anil Ambani-owned Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL) 6,000 crore, according to a group of banks who have petitioned the Delhi High Court [Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited v Delhi Metro Rail Corporation].
The banks have stated that the Anil Ambani group of firms owes them approximately 9,000 crore, and that given the organization's current financial situation, now is the best time to recover the money.
Senior Advocate Ramji Srinivasan made the submission before Justice Suresh Kumar Kait on Thursday during the hearing of Reliance Infrastructure's subsidiary DAMEPL's execution petition seeking payment of a 7,000 crore award in its favour granted by an arbitration tribunal and upheld by the Supreme Court.
While the DMRC has put ₹1,000 crore into an escrow account, it still owes 6,000 crore. The Delhi Metro, on the other hand, disputes the sum and claims that it has the necessary cash to pay it.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the DMRC, had earlier claimed that the government should be allowed to negotiate directly with banks in order to take over the liabilities of Reliance Infra, which owes substantial sums of money to public lenders.
This, according to Mehta, would relieve the DMRC of the responsibility of paying the DAMEPL the full amount due.
The Anil Ambani group's lenders have submitted an application in this regard, according to Srinivasan, although it has yet to be taken on record.
“The Delhi Metro has to pay them around ₹6,000 crores. Since public money is involved here and given the status of the Anil Ambani Group which owes us more than ₹9,000 crore, this is an opportune moment and the money should come to public lenders. I have given all the details in my application. We do not want this money to be disbursed outside but to us,” he submitted.
Senior Advocate Rakesh K Khanna, who represented DAMEPL, challenged the application, claiming that the Court was only hearing an execution petition and that the money had to be provided by DMRC.
The Court set the matter for a new hearing on Monday, noting that no adjournment will be granted to any of the parties on that day, for any reason.
The High Court ordered DMRC to produce its financial sheet for the year 2021, as well as data of its bank accounts and fixed deposits, by Thursday.
DMRC's Senior Advocate Parag Tripathi challenged DAMEPL's allegation of 7,000 crore in dues, claiming that DMRC owes only a little more than 3,000 crore. It was said that the DMRC employs over 14,000 employees and that the COVID-19 limits are costing it money, resulting in a monthly loss of around Rs. 100 crore.
The Supreme Court affirmed a Rs 2,800 crore arbitral award in favour of DAMEPL against the DMRC in the dispute over the Delhi Airport Express Line in September of last year.