The order passed in M/s Vanilla Clean Power Pvt. Ltd. & M/s Ivy Eco-Energy India Pvt. Ltd. v. M/s Inox Wind Infrastructure Services Ltd by the Single Judge Bench of Justice Yogesh Khanna, while hearing petitions under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 directed a wind-power generator company and its contractor to continue status quo regarding continued power generation and evacuation of power till the next date of hearing.
Brief facts of the case
The petitioner (M/s Vanilla Clean Power Pvt. Ltd.) and the respondent (M/s Inox Wind Infrastructure Services Ltd.) executed a Mutual Termination Agreement to terminate the existing Operation & Maintenance (O&M) Agreements.
Further, the parties simultaneously executed an agreement for O&M services for limited and specific purposes of continuing to operate and maintain the shared services and common infrastructure. Later on, the vendor of the respondent allegedly entered the wind park and demanded the employees of the respondent should switch off the interconnecting feeders connecting the Wind Turbine Generators of the Power Generation Plant to the Pooling Substation and thereby bringing the generation and evacuation of power from the Power Generation Plant to a standstill. The petition has been filed under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
Arguments before the court
Shri Ranjit Kumar, the learned senior counsel for the petitioner argued as per the notification dated 24.03.2020 Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Power, Government of India which notified that power generation, transmission, and distribution units and services to be ‘essential services’.
He submitted that his client had settled the amount it owed to the respondent as also to its vendors. He also argued per clause 3.8 of the Agreement for Operation and Maintenance Services in the event of the contractor unable to operate a shared service on account of disturbances caused by the vendor/employee/ agent/sub-contractor the owner shall have every right to take control of the operation of the shared services and that if the owner fails to make the payment towards O & M charges on the due date, then the owner shall be liable to pay to the contractor the outstanding unpaid invoice amount along with interest as due to alleged non-payment of charges the contract cannot be given a go-by. It is submitted the FIR was lodged against the conduct of the respondent and on 16.04.2020 the petitioner on its own switched on the interconnecting feeder line to operationalise the power generation and evacuation, but again it was switched off by the respondent, hence this petition.
Mr Sahil Chopra, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of M/s Inox Wind Infrastructure Services Ltd, under instructions of Ms Remya Sanjiv, Sr Manager, who is also present with him, states the interconnecting feeder lines of the Wind Turbine Generator and power generation belonging to the petitioner to the pooling substation have been switched on with effect from 17.04.2020 and shall not be switched off till further orders.
Court’s decision
The High Court of Delhi, therefore, directed the parties to maintain the status quo to continue the power generation and evacuation of power till the next date of hearing.
Libertatem.in is now on Telegram. Follow us for regular legal updates and judgements from the court. Follow us on Google News, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter. You can also subscribe for our Weekly Email Updates. You can also contribute stories like this and help us spread awareness for a better society. Submit Your Post Now.
