JOIN USThe Singapore Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Maldivian government could take back control of the international airport in Male from the GMR Group, but New Delhi feels that the judgment apparently had not settled the dispute over the contract awarded to the consortium led by the Indian infrastructure giant in 2010.
Though the judgment of the Singapore’s court of appeal is being seen as a setback for the GMR Male International Airport Limited, India maintained that it would like to see “fulfillment of all legal processes” and ‘adherence’ to all relevant provisions in the June 28, 2010 contract between the consortium and the Maldivian government.
A government spokesman in New Delhi pointed out that there were two separate issues in the row over the Maldivian government decision to annul its contract with the GMIAL. The judgment of the court of appeal of Singapore only addressed the issue of sovereign right of Maldives to take back the control of the airport, while the issue of legal status of the contract and the quantum of compensation that GMIAL would be entitled to had not yet been addressed.
“These issues are not affected with judgment or not responded to...Fulfillment of all legal process and requirement is what we want to see in this case and we hope that all relevant contracts and agreements would be adhered to and all legal process are carried through,” said the spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs, Syed Akbaruddin.
He also said that legal experts were studying the judgment of the court of appeal of Singapore both in the Indian High Commission in Male as well as in the MEA headquarters in New Delhi.