Audit Metro lines in Gurugram by ILFS entities, HC to CAG

New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS) The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a direction to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to appoint a team of auditors to ascertain the debt in the two ILFS entities developing the Metro rail links from Delhi to Gurugram.

According to an order passed by Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain and Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi on September 20, as far as "debt due" as defined under the concession contract between Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), formerly called HUDA, is concerned, CAG auditors will carry out a financial audit of the "debt due".

The CAG will complete the audit within a period of 30 days. The court also directed that an amount of 80 per cent of the debt due, determined in terms of the audit report of the CAG, shall be deposited by the HSVP in the escrow account which shall be subject to any order passed by the NCLAT or any other competent statutory authority, within a period of 30 days after the receipt of the audit report.

The concession agreements were entered into between HSVP and Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon Ltd (RMGL] and Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon South Ltd (RMGSL), respectively, for the development of Metro rail link from Sikanderpur Station on M.G. Road to NH-8 and from Sikanderpur Station on M.G. Road to Sector 56, Gurugram.

Both the contracts were terminated by RMGL and RMGSL on June 7, 2019, to take effect from September 8, 2019, after the expiry of 90 days, whereas, HSVP terminated both the contracts on August 26.

RMGL and RMGSL are the subsidiary companies of Infrastructure Leasing and Finance Limited (ILFS) which is before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

The consensus on the handover of the two lines was arrived at in the presence of senior officers of both the parties -- D. Suresh, Managing Director, HMRTC, and Chief Administrator, HSVP, and Rajiv Banga, Managing Director, RMGSL, and Director, RMGL.

The two entities have decided to continue the operation and maintenance (O&M) of both the metro lines for the period of 30 days with effect from September 16. In the meantime, the process of transfer of control and management of operation and maintenance of both the Metro links shall start from September 23.

Haryana Mass Rapid Transport Corporation (HMRTC) and HSVP have already entered into a formal agreement with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on September 16 for the O&M of the metro lines.

Both the parties have requested to appoint two retired judges of the high court on payment of suitable remuneration to supervise the transfer and the names of Justice Kailash Gambhir and Justice V.K. Gupta were approved.

--IANS

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Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: IANS