Delhi HC Sends MTNL–Motorola Arbitration Dispute Back for Fresh Hearing: Informist

The Delhi High Court has asked its single judge to hear again MTNL’s challenge to arbitral awards that ordered the company to pay Motorola around ₹1 billion with 15% interest and return its bank guarantees. The division bench set aside a 2017 order that had upheld the awards, according to a report published by Informist Media.

The bench said the 2017 ruling did not properly deal with several key objections MTNL had raised. It pointed out that MTNL had argued that the second purchase order was a separate contract and that awarding 15% interest on both the foreign currency and rupee parts was not legally justified. These points, the court said, were raised clearly but were not examined in the earlier order.

The bench added that if MTNL’s plea on the non-arbitrability of the second purchase order is accepted, the entire award may not hold since the doctrine of severability may not apply here, the Informist report said.