Impact of Judicial Overreach on PPP Construction Projects

摘要

There are instances of judicial overreach, although infrequently, practiced by courts. This results in time delay as well as handing over of public services beyond the scheduled date, fallout of the impact suffered by public-private partnership (PPP) projects. Taking such time until resolution of disputes owing to adjudication by different courts leads to prolongation of completion of the project. To this end, the merits of intermediate orders, injunctions, and final judgment pronounced by the different courts (hierarchically) are presented by way of an in-depth analysis of a specific case. Lessons learned from the experiences, such as (1) ensuring time-bound enforcement of the clauses of the contract, (2) comprehensive, adequate, and unambiguous drafting of the contract, and (3) avoiding nonadherence to the timeline schedule for fulfilling the obligations by parties to the contract and as stipulated in the concession agreements (CA), have been deduced for future applications. It also needs attention of legal policymakers who must ensure that courts are strictly prohibited from venturing beyond their mandate. Further, a strict timeline for adjudication of cases in keeping with principles of natural justice may be legislated and put in place.