HC refuses MMRCL plea to halt ₹250 cr award to L&T-STEC JV

NO ‘ABJECT PERVERSITY’ | The court holds that the arbitral award would remain stayed only if MMRCL deposits the entire amount within eight weeks

- Urvi Mahajani

The Bombay High Court has refused to grant an unconditional stay on the execution of an arbitral award of about Rs250.82 crore passed in favour of L&T-STEC JV against the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL), observing that the corporation failed to show that the award was tainted by “abject perversity.”

Justice Somasekhar Sundereshan, in his October 10 order, held that the arbitral award would remain stayed only if MMRCL deposits the entire amount — along with accrued interest — within eight weeks. The court noted that MMRCL had not made out a case that would justify staying execution of the award without such a deposit.

The order came in response to an application filed by MMRCL seeking an unconditional stay on execution of the arbitral award. The corporation has already filed a petition challenging the award under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.