Vnews: State lawyers have stated that in the event of the nullification of the settlement agreement between Villa Group and the Government with regards to Maanenfushi Pvt Ltd, there were no stipulations in the settlement agreement to revert to the initial agreement made between the two parties.
State lawyer Faena Fayyaz made the statement in the appeal hearings of the case, where Civil Court had refused to issue a stay order on Tourism Ministry.
She stated that there was no clause stating that the initial agreement has to be revoked once the settlement agreement was nullified. However, even if that was not specified in the agreement, once the settlement agreement was nullified, the initial agreement would become the default agreement. Additionally, Fayyaz stated that even though the settlement agreement was nullified, there were no damages the Government had to pay to Maanenfushi. She added that the agreement can only be nullified in the case, where a contractual breach had occurred.
Speaking in today’s hearing Maanenfushi Pvt Ltd lawyer, Masthoor Husny stated that there were no damages occurring to the State if they issue the stay order. However, if the order was not released, there was room for Tourism Ministry to lease the island to a third party without prior bidding. Should that happen, Husny argued that a third party would be implicated in the case.
He added that the stay order refusal was against the judicial norms, principles, laws and regulations. Husny stated that the Civil Court ruling had disregarded the same rulings in similar cases delivered by High Court and Supreme Court.
Even though, there were no stipulations in the settlement agreement to revert to the initial agreement made between the two parties, MIRA had referred to this agreement in sending the notice to Maanenfushi Pvt Ltd. The MIRA notice had ordered to pay US$ 61 million as rent and penalties. The company’s accounts have been frozen as they had not paid that amount.
The next hearings of the case is scheduled for early June.
No stipulations to revert to initial settlement when settlement agreement is nullified: State
