Court issues stay order against Villimale buggy deal termination
It's hard to assess the losses incurred by both Ninety-9 holdings and the council
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
Civil Court on Monday issued an interim injunction to suspend the implementation of Male City Council's decision to terminate its agreement with Ninety 9 Holdings, which was previously contracted with operating a buggy service in Villimale.
Summary of the buggy deal:
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December 17, 2013 – Private business, Ninety 9 Holdings, had been given the contract to provide services for public transport in Villimale
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Aug 17, 2022 - The company had not been able to provide services as per the agreement for four months now, hence the contract got cancelled and the council decided to continue with the service themselves
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August 25, 2022 - Letter sent by council informing that the deal will be terminated
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Asked to vacate the land allotted under the agreement within 7 days
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The company has now filed a lawsuit against the Male City Council, alleging that the agreement was cancelled in violation of the rules and regulations of the agreement.
Ninety 9 Holidays has filed a petition in the Civil Court seeking a stay order on the decision to cancel the agreement until the court takes a decision on the matter as the council is trying to start the service of the buggy service directly.
In the interim order sought by the company, it said:
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Order staying the implementation of the letter till the Civil Court pronounces a verdict or passes a final order
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Direct the council not to do anything mentioned in the letter
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The interim order was sought on the ground that the council's actions would cause irreparable damage to Ninety 9 Holdings unless the court decides on the termination of the contract
In its ruling, the Civil Court said:
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The council pointed out in the court that if the implementation of the decision to terminate the agreement is delayed, the council will also suffer
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The council is of the view that every day when the buggy service is disrupted will be a loss to the people and that too will be a loss for the civic body
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It is hard to assess the losses incurred by Ninety-9 holdings and the civic body
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In this situation, the next course of action should be to maintain the pre-existing situation (maintain status quo).
The Civil Court decided that Ninety 9 Holdings can request the court to direct the Male City Council to suspend the decision to cancel the agreement until the court decides on the case filed.
Male City Council is all set to launch the buggy service in Villimale on March 16. Announcing this, the city council said that after the end of the fasting month and Eid-ul-Fitr, a person will be charged MVR 2 per trip.
While the council has decided to provide the buggy service, MTCC has also begun providing bus service in the ward.
