Court rejects Hopewell's Bt12m claim against govt
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The Central Administrative Court has overturned an arbitrator's order that the government pay a private firm about Bt12 billion over the now-abandoned Hopewell Project.
The court decision is based on a technicality, as it found that Hopewell (Thailand) petitioned the arbitrator too late.
The firm demanded the large amount of compensation from the Transport Ministry and the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), accusing the two agencies of unfairly cancelling its contract in 1998.
"By law, the parties in the conflict must petition the arbitrator within 60 days or the Central Administrative Court within five years since the termination of contract took place," the court announced Thursday.
Although the arbitrator had accepted the complaint from Hopewell (Thailand) and delivered a ruling in its favour, the Central Administrative Court yesterday ordered nullification of the arbitrator order.
The Nation
