Civil Court injunction on termination of agreements appealed

The injunction issued by Civil Court to hold off the termination of the agreements with Villa Hotels and Resorts, on the uninhabited islands and lagoons given to the company, has been appealed by the State in High Court.

Villa Hotels and Resorts is owned by Leader of Jumhooree Party (JP) Gasim Ibrahim.

The first hearing of this case was held at 11:30 a.m. today.

The injunction issued by Civil Court on 11 February orders to hold taking any action on the letter from the Ministry of Tourism to Villa Hotels and Resorts, until the case against the Ministry by Villa Hotels and Resorts is settled by the court.

Villa Hotels and Resorts has claimed in a case filed to court against the ministry, that the terms of the agreement between the company and the ministry had been violated by the ministry – and the ministry therefore cannot terminate the agreement as mentioned in the letter.

Civil Court said that the three lagoons mentioned in the claim were leased to Villa Hotels and Resorts after the State was unable to pay damages to the company related to a prior transaction.

As a result, the company would suffer severe and possibly irrecoverable losses if the court denied its request for an injunction, the Civil Court said.