Quick Summary: The Madras High Court has chosen a neutral third party to settle a disagreement between Aditya Energy Holdings and Enrich Energy Private Limited about a solar project in Tamil Nadu.
Aditya Energy Holdings, a company involved in preparing land for solar projects, and Enrich Energy, a company that builds solar plants, got into a disagreement. They argued over payments related to a 100 MW solar project in Tamil Nadu, for which they had signed several agreements on March 5, 2018.
Aditya Energy was responsible for getting the land and necessary approvals under the Land Development Agreement. Enrich Energy was supposed to set up the solar plant as per the contract with M/s.NLC India Limited.
To sort out payment problems, both companies signed a document after a meeting on May 14, 2019. This changed the project's scope, canceled one of the agreements, and set a new payment plan. However, Aditya Energy claimed that Enrich Energy still owed them Rs. 85,10,543.
"The document from the meeting on 14.5.2019 also outlined the new payment plan to be followed by Enrich Energy to pay Aditya Energy."
Aditya Energy sent several notices to Enrich Energy, trying to solve the issue peacefully, but these efforts didn't work. This led them to ask the court to appoint an arbitrator under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court looked at the agreements and decided that arbitration was necessary. The court rejected Enrich Energy's claim that the document from the meeting replaced the agreements and canceled the arbitration clause.
"This Court finds that the relevant parts of the agreements, when read together, offer two different ways to handle disputes."
The court appointed Honourable Mr. Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, a retired Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, as the only arbitrator. He will manage the resolution of the disputes, ensuring the process happens in Chennai.
"The respected Arbitrator is asked to start looking into the disputes between the parties."
This decision is a step towards resolving the financial disagreement between the two companies, aiming for a fair and just outcome.
