HC stays Rs 11.52 award against J&K Govt

Srinagar, Nov 29: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has stayed an arbitral award amounting to Rs 11.52 crore issued by the District Level Micro & Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (MSEFC), SAS Nagar, Punjab against the J&K Government.

Hearing a petition filed by the government (PHE) through senior Additional Advocate General A R Malik, a bench of Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal observed that “prima facie a case for indulgence and interim relief is made out at this stage.”

“In the meantime, subject to objections from other side and till next date of hearing before the Bench, impugned award dated 1st June, 2023 passed by Chairperson, District Level Micro & Small

Enterprises Facilitation Council (MSEFC) SAS Nagar Punjab in case titled “M/S JTL Infra Limited v/s Executive Engineer, PHEM& P Division, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, shall remain stayed,” the court said.

By virtue of the award passed on June 1 2023, the PHE Department was directed to pay Rs 2.75 crore as the principal amount along with Rs 8.77 crore as interest under the provisions of Section 16 of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 (MSMED Act).

Assailing the award Sr AAG Malik argued that the council failed to ascertain if the respondent complied with the statutory requirements under Sections 7 and 8 of the MSMED Act.

Malik emphasized that the respondent’s turnover and investment significantly exceeded the thresholds defined for MSMEs, thereby rendering the council's jurisdiction invalid.