The Civil Court accepts Singapore's arbitration notice against Sun Travels and orders it to pay hotel chain Hilton International USD 24 million in damages. The court has ordered Sun Travels to pay the outstanding amount within 14 days.
In 2015, the Singapore Arbitration Court ruled that Sun Travels must pay the hotel chain MVR 24 million as compensation after the company terminated the agreement with Hilton to operate Irufushi Resort on April 30, 2013.
A part of the compensation had already been seized by the court during the rule enforcement stage.
The Civil Court ruled on Sunday that there was no legal reason to prevent the arbitration award from being enforced and ordered Sun Travels to pay the outstanding amount and penalty within 14 days.
The High Court had earlier ruled that a decision on the admissibility of a foreign arbitration must be taken before it can be enforced in the Maldives. Therefore, Sun Travels sought to declare the arbitration decision inadmissible.
Sun Travels asked the court, under the Arbitration Act, to dismiss the arbitration award on the grounds that Hilton had entered into the agreement by fraud and deception and that the arbitration award was contrary to the general policy of the state.
The court, however, said it could not take any further decisions on the matter as the Supreme Court had earlier ruled that it was not possible for the Civil Court to re-decide on matters decided by arbitration.
The Civil Court's ruling stated that there is no reason to prohibit the arbitration award from being accepted as the agreement in the case is not in violation of the general policy of the state.
Sign In