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The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to plead guilty to a lawyer who alleged fraud ₹7,100 crore in the contract between the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure to build the Airport Express metro line, saying it was “half-baked”, “misconceived” and submitted without any research.
A public interest litigation (PIL) alleges that the agreement and release from ₹7,100 crore between DMRC and Reliance Infra is a result of corruption and fraud for a vested interest to extract commission from the entire amount.
Justices Manmohan and Navin Chawla came down hard on lawyer Manohar Lal Sharma, the petitioner himself, for not approaching the DMRC before moving the court or doing any homework.
“You have come with one piece of paper which is a newspaper report… You have not written a letter to DMRC that this is a contract which you have executed under duress, or due to any fraud. You didn’t talk to anyone. You have come straight to the march before the high court… Have you sought their (DMRC’s) answer as to the circumstances under which this contract was negotiated? Why was this agreement negotiated?…You have not done any work and the High Court should do all your work,” the court said.
A consortium of Reliance Energi Limited (renamed Reliance Infrastructure Limited) has signed a concession agreement with DMRC for the construction of the Delhi Airport Express Metro Rail Corporation (DAMEPL). However, it was discontinued in October 2012 citing DMRC’s failure to cure defects in the structure supporting the Airport Metro Express Line. In 2017, an arbitral tribunal awarded damages to R-Infra, a decision that was upheld by a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court in 2018.
Sharma withdrew the petition with liberty to take action as per law.
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