Court orders to hold off termination of agreements with Villa

Civil Court has issued an injunction to halt all efforts related to the termination of the agreements with Villa Hotels and Resorts, owned by Leader of Jumhooree Party (JP) Gasim Ibrahim, regarding the uninhabited islands and lagoons given to the company.

In the injunction issued yesterday, the court ordered all relevant government authorities to halt the implementation of the issues stated in the letter sent to Villa Hotels and Resorts by Ministry of Tourism, until the court delivers its verdict on a case filed by the company against the ministry.

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.