The Delhi high court on Wednesday confirmed its interim order restraining Dabhol Power Company from going ahead with the arbitration proceedings initiated at London to invoke the Centre's counter guarantee in the power purchase agreement signed by the multinational with the Maharashtra government.

The order to this effect was passed by Justice R C Chopra.

The court, on June 18 last year, had passed an interim order restraining DPC from going ahead with the arbitration proceedings initiated before the arbitral tribunal at London.

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During the arguments, Attorney General Soli Sorabjee and government counsel Maninder Singh had submitted that DPC was proceeding with the arbitral tribunal because of its object and intent to indirectly give a go-by to and circumvent the restrain order passed against it by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission and affirmed by the Supreme Court.

They submitted that the dispute regarding the arbitration proceedings between the parties was pending in the apex court and till the conclusion and final outcome of the proceedings, DPC be restrained from going ahead with the proceedings in the London tribunal.

Government had submitted that the critical issue about the jurisdiction of MERC vis-a-vis the arbitral tribunal about the PPA dispute was sub judice and pending before the Apex Court.

The Centre had maintained that the continuation of arbitral proceedings will be oppressive and inequitable to it.

DPC, promoted by US major Enron, had closed its operations in India nearly two and a half years back due to differences between MSEB and Enron over the price to be paid by the state board to the promoter on purchase of power.