Bengaluru, 13 Jan

A Bengaluru court has dismissed an application filed by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) seeking interim protection against the invocation of bank guarantees by Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited (K-RIDE) in connection with Corridor-4 of the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project, while granting limited temporary relief to approach the arbitral tribunal.

Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge (Commercial Court) CD Karoshi rejected L&T’s plea under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and allowed K-RIDE’s application to vacate the interim injunction granted on 30 July 2025.

In an order dated 5 January 2026, the court held that the balance of convenience did not favor L&T, noting the unconditional nature of the bank guarantees and the fact that an arbitral tribunal had already been constituted.

The court observed that after the tribunal’s constitution, its powers to grant interim relief were barred under Section 9(3) of the Act, and that L&T had an effective remedy under Section 17 before the tribunal.

The interim injunction will stand vacated on 24 January 2026, with L&T given liberty to seek similar relief from the arbitral tribunal within 20 days.