Dispute Resolution

The Hon’ble Delhi High Court, in its decision dated 28 April 2020 in Indrajit Power Private Limited v Union of India & Ors, has dismissed a writ petition seeking to refrain the invocation of a bank guarantee by the Union of India (Respondent No 1) inter alia due to the financial distress caused by the national lockdown and that the COVID-19 pandemic was a force majeure under the agreement between the parties.

Pursuant to the Supreme Court’s directions dated 6 April 2020, several High Courts have issued directions and guidelines regarding the conduct of hearings via videoconferencing (VC) (VC Hearings) for themselves as well their subordinate courts. Until recently, the preferred platform for conducting court proceedings appeared to be ‘Zoom’. However, following the Union Ministry of Home Affairs’ advisory dated 12 April 2020 declaring ‘Zoom’ as unsafe (MHA Advisory), certain High Courts have opted to discontinue the use of ‘Zoom’.

The Supreme Court of India, in its judgment dated 22 April 2020 in National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India v Alimenta S.A., has refused enforcement of a foreign award on the ground of it being contrary to the fundamental public policy of India.

On 26 February 2020, the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court (High Court) passed a judgment on various civil revisional applications filed under Article 227 of the Constitution of India whereby the High Court held that the pre-acquisition role and intra-acquisition liability of payment of compensation makes a private partner in a township development project under a Public Private Partnership model (PPP) a necessary party or a person interested in the referenced proceedings under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (LA Act).

The past week saw a flurry of activity in connection with the adoption and implementation of the virtual system of functioning by the Indian judicial machinery.

A single bench of the Bombay High Court has refused ad-interim reliefs to the Petitioners who were seeking to restrain the Respondent bank from negotiating / encashing the letters of credit, on the ground that the contracts with the Respondent seller were terminated as unenforceable on account of frustration, impossibility and impracticability caused due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the government lockdown.

As the nation has entered the final week of the 21 day nation-wide lockdown announced by the Indian Prime Minister with effect from 25 March 2020 pursuant to the COVID – 19 outbreak, we take a stock of key regulatory measures taken on Central as well as State levels by authorities which have a direct impact on the power sector. We have set out below an overview of the key regulatory updates impacting the power sector:

On 7 April 2020 Singapore passed the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act, 2020 (Act) to provide temporary relief to parties who are unable to perform their contractual obligations due to the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID-19), amongst other measures. It must be noted that the provisions of the Act relating to temporary relief for inability to perform contractual obligations will come into effect from the date that the Minister of Law, Singapore, appoints by notification in their Gazette.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the justice delivery system like never before. The compulsions associated with ‘social distancing’ coupled with lockdown directives have led courts and tribunals to shut their premises to the public. At the same time, recognizing that a complete shut-down of the justice-delivery system is undesirable, judicial administrators have turned to technology to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic. Various judicial and quasi-judicial bodies, led by the Supreme Court, have been conducting hearings online.

The steady advance of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in India and across the world has seen a concomitant increase in the uncertainties for business on a daily basis. While the elephant in the room is  currently compliance and handling of employees and taking necessary steps as per government policies and relevant employment and labour laws, the impact on corporate entities is also far and wide on other aspects.    One of the biggest gradual fallouts of this business disruption will arise from inability or difficulty in performance of contractual commitments.