PAIL Filed Appeal Before HC Against RAKIA

Hyderabad: Pioneer Aluminium Industries Ltd (PAIL), a group company of the Penna Group, has moved the Telangana High Court against Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) over the latter’s suit seeking to stall exchange transactions between PAIL and Russian aluminium major Rusal, which has agreed to acquire up to a 50 per cent stake in PAIL.

PAIL filed an appeal challenging an order of a commercial court in Hyderabad, which dispensed with compliance under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, and directed registration of the suit filed by RAKIA. Section 12A mandates pre-institution mediation in commercial disputes that do not require urgent interim relief, with non-compliance attracting rejection of the complaint.

RAKIA, which had invested at the time of the company’s formation in 2007, instituted the suit before the commercial court challenging the agreement between PAIL and Rusal and sought declaratory and injunctive reliefs to restrain further steps under the transaction.

During the hearing, senior counsel Avinash Desai, appearing for PAIL, contended that the exemption granted under Section 12A was improper and sought a stay of proceedings before the commercial court. The High Court declined to stall the trial, observing that pleadings were substantially complete. However, it directed the trial court not to pronounce orders on the interim application until the High Court delivers its decision in the appeal filed by PAIL.