Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Nearly 40 years after the contract for the new Mandovi Bridge was signed, the Bombay High Court at Goa has dismissed the State government’s appeal challenging an arbitral award that directs it to pay over Rs 2.5 crore, along with interest, to M/s U P State Bridge Corporation Ltd.
Justice Suman Shyam, in a judgment delivered on Friday, upheld the Principal District Judge, North Goa’s earlier decision, which had rejected the State’s objections under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
The dispute traces back to a 1987 contract for constructing the new Mandovi Bridge on NH-17. Although the agreement was signed on February 21, 1987, and the bridge was inaugurated on July 23, 1992, span 11 collapsed on October 14, 1990, during construction.
Conflicts arose during the project execution, leading the parties to approach a three-member arbitral tribunal as stipulated in the contract. On August 8, 1997, the tribunal ruled that the State must pay over Rs 1.31 crore for claims and Rs 1.20 crore in interest up to the award date, in addition to further interest at 18 percent. The tribunal also addressed insurance claims and the return of bank guarantees.
The State’s attempt to challenge the award was initially rejected as time-barred by the Principal District Judge in 2001, a decision later upheld by the High Court. After related proceedings in the Supreme Court, the matter was revived and examined on merit by the Principal District Judge in 2016, again rejecting the State’s objections.
The High Court concluded that there were no valid grounds to interfere with the arbitral award or the Principal District Judge’s order, dismissing the State’s appeal in a detailed 29-page ruling.
