THE ELECTRICITY DEPARTMENT, REP. BY ITS SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER, PORT BLAIR AND Vs. M/S SURYACHAKRA POWER CORPORATION LTD AND ANR
Supreme Court of India (Division Bench (DB)- Two Judge)
Appeal (Civil), 3764 of 2016, Judgment Date: Oct 18, 2016
NON-REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 3764 OF 2016
THE ELECTRICITY DEPARTMENT, REP. BY ITS
SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER,PORT BLAIR AND ANR. APPELLANTS
VERSUS
M/S SURYACHAKRA POWER CORPORATION LIMITED
AND ANR. RESPONDENTS
J U D G M E N T
NARIMAN, J.
1. The present appeal is a sequel to Civil Appeal No. 1652 of 2015. By
our judgment and order dated 22nd September, 2016, against the judgment of
the Appellate Tribunal dated 28th November, 2014, we disposed of the
aforesaid appeal allowing the appeal only to a limited extent and setting
aside the judgment of the Appellate Tribunal insofar as it allowed an
increase in interest during construction (IDC), financing charges (FC) and
incidental expenses during construction (IEDC) incurred for the delay in
execution of the project for reasons beyond the control of the respondent.
2. In the second round of litigation, the implementation of the
aforesaid order of the Appellate Tribunal has taken place, and the impugned
judgment of the Appellate Tribunal dated 14th March, 2016 has been placed
before us. In particular, a chart extracted in paragraph 9.13 has been
supplied by the Appellate Tribunal indicating how it has arrived at a total
project cost of Rs. 77.64 crores. We find that Shri Rakesh Khanna, learned
senior counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants has raised various
submissions before us, most of which have been raised and turned down
earlier. We find that item nos. 1,2,3 & 4 of the said chart are
unexceptionable for the reason that they strictly conform to paragraphs 25
and 36 of the Appellate Tribunal judgment dated 28th November, 2014.
However, item no.5 consists of a sum of Rs.1.84 crores and 0.84 crores,
being additional interest during construction, financing cost, and
incidental expenses during construction. Since the earlier appeal i.e.
Civil Appeal No. 1652 of 2015 has been allowed to a limited extent, these
figures will have to be deleted and consequently the project cost will now
stand as Rs.74.96 crores.
3. We have been informed that a sum of Rs.15 crores is lying in deposit
having been invested by the Registry of this Court. This sum has been
provided by appellant No.1 on 12th July, 2016 pursuant to an interim order
of this Court. The disbursement of this sum is dependent upon
adjudication proceedings pending before the Joint Electricity Regulatory
Commission, Gurgaon.
4. We direct the said Commission to complete the exercise necessary in
these proceedings positively within six weeks from today. If the
Commission directs payment of Rs.15 crores or more to be made by the
appellants to the respondents, the Registry of this Court is directed to
disburse the amount of Rs. 15 crores with accrued interest, if necessary,
to the Respondents without further reference to this Court. In case a sum
of less than Rs.15 crores is ordered to be disbursed to the Respondents,
the said sum shall be paid by the Registry to the Respondents, and the
balance lying in deposit, with accrued interest, shall be returned to
appellant No.1. In case no amount is payable to the Respondents, the
Registry shall return the amount in deposit with accrued interest to
appellant No.1.
5. With the above observations, the appeal is disposed of.
No costs.
...................J.
[KURIAN JOSEPH]
....................J.
[ROHINTON FALI NARIMAN]
NEW DELHI;
OCTOBER 18, 2016