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57. The question, which arises is whether prevailing tariff and revenue is one expression itself followed by a comma, which refers to operation and maintenance cost and another comma followed by corporate tax. Thus, the three expressions have been used whereafter it is added that it pertains to aeronautical services at the airport. To our mind, it is quite clear that all the three phrases are qualified by them pertaining to aeronautical services at the airport. An alternative plea was raised (a lesser one at that) to distinguish prevailing tariff and revenue as two different terms. This was to make aeronautical services not applicable, at least, to prevailing tariffs and revenue by seeking to bifurcate these two expressions. The result sought to be achieved was that as an alternative, the aeronautical services would apply to operations and maintenance on one hand and corporate tax on the other while seeking to exclude tariff and revenue. If one may say, in order to achieve a particular result, a reverse engineering process was sought to be applied to contend that the term revenue would include both aeronautical and non-aeronautical services.

Our Rationale:

81. On the consideration of the plea it is obvious to us that the endeavour of DIAL was to lower the ‘X-factor’, which in turn will result in a higher tariff. The objective is, thus, how the tariff can be made higher rather than staying true to how the agreement reads. A reverse engineering process again!

82. We must keep in mind that a specialised authority has gone into this aspect and also the Tribunal. The controversy revolves around a formula. This formula in turn would have been determined after due deliberations. It is an algebraic formula and has to be solved by the principles of algebra. We can only remind ourselves that the BODMAS principle would have to apply to the formula in the SSA, which is what the AERA has done. What DIAL wants to do is to re-write the formula and then apply BODMAS. This, in fact, causes complete violence to the formula itself. If the manner of calculation of DIAL was to be the basis, then the SSA would have provided that formula. Now DIAL seeks to re- write/remodel the formula based on the so-called expert opinion, which is self-serving in character.