New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS): The Supreme Court has dismissed the review petition filed by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) against an SC order, which had upheld the Rs 7,100 crore arbitral award in favour of Reliance Infrastructure arm Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt Ltd (DAMEPL), on November 23, 2021.

Reliance Infastructure has filed an execution petition in Delhi High Court, which is coming up for hearing on Monday (December 6).

According to sources, every single day's delay in the payment of arbitration money to Reliance Infrastructure by DMRC is causing an additional interest burden of around Rs 2 crore per day on the DMRC. The interest liability of DMRC has already gone up by around Rs 200 crore since the pronouncement of the order by the apex court on September 9 in this matter.

The Supreme Court in its order on September 9 had upheld Rs 7,100 crore arbitral award in favour of Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL), a Reliance Infra arm that used to operate the Delhi Airport Metro line.

A bench of the apex court headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao had quashed the Delhi High Court order that had set aside the arbitration award in favour of DAMEPL, which had pulled out from running the Airport Express Metro line over safety issues.

Reliance Infrastructure will receive Rs 7,100 crore from the DMRC after the Supreme Court judgement.

The arbitral tribunal in its May 2017 award had accepted the Airport Metro operator's claim that the running of operations on the line was not viable due to reasons such as structural defects.

In 2008, DAMEPL had entered into a contract with DMRC for running the Airport Metro line till 2038.

As disputes arose between the parties, DAMEPL stopped operating the Metro on the airport line and invoked the arbitration clause against DMRC alleging violation of contract and sought a termination fee.