LEIGHTON INDIA CONTRACTORS PRIVATE LTD. Vs. DLF LTD.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 has been filed by M/s Leighton India Contractors Pvt. Ltd ("Petitioner") against DLF Ltd. ("DLF") and M/s Axis Bank Ltd. (the "Bank") seeking the following reliefs:

(2.) Dlf issued a letter of intent dated 11th July, 2013 for developing a residential project "The Camellias" at DLF City, Phase V, Gurugram. The Petitioner was chosen as the Contractor, and contract dated 19th September, 2013 was executed between the parties. The value of the contract was approximately Rs.1438 crores. The date of completion, as per the contract, was 3rd September, 2017. After the initial contract, several variation orders were placed on the Petitioner and the date of completion was revised. The last extension was granted till 30th June, 2018.

(3.) Under the main agreement the Petitioner furnished six bank guarantees. Two bank guarantees were in lieu of the retention money, which was to be retained by DLF and released once the project was completed. The same is however claimed to have been released to the Petitioner by DLF, at the request of the Petitioner against a Bank Guarantee. The remaining four bank guarantees were to secure the proper performance of the contract. The details of the bank guarantees are as under: