Court rejects Total bankruptcy petition
Court rejects Total bankruptcy petition
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta Commercial Court has ruled in favor of oil and gas
producer Total E&P Indonesie on Tuesday over a bankruptcy
petition filed by two of the company's contractors.
The panel of judges declared the bankruptcy petition to have
no legal basis, citing the lack of evidence establishing a
contractual relationship between Total and the first plaintiff,
PT Istana Karang Laut (IKL).
The court also declared that the case should have been
submitted to the district court as it was a civil suit that
needed to prove that there was an outstanding debt owed by Total
to the contractors.
"The bankruptcy petition is baseless. Therefore, the court has
decided to reject it," presiding judge Agus Soebroto said,
reading the verdict.
The court also rejected asset preservation orders requested by
both contractors, saying the request was baseless as none of the
assets belonged to Total.
The contractors' lawyer OC Kaligis said they would appeal to
the Supreme Court.
"We will file an appeal over the ruling because an audit
result from the Development Financial Comptroller (BPKP) has
stated that Total still has debts to pay," he told The Jakarta
Post over the phone. Kaligis himself was not present at the
court.
Total was taken to court by its subcontractor IKL, as the
first plaintiff, and contractor PT Sanggar Kaltim Jaya (SKJ) as
the second plaintiff.
They both used BPKP audit results as the legal basis for their
bankruptcy petition.
The contractors claimed that Total should pay them US$7.131
million to cover debts incurred in the construction of a gas
platform and pipeline at Tunu and Peciko fields in East
Kalimantan.
Total refused the claim saying it had completed all payments
to the first plaintiff and that they did not have a contractual
basis to demand compensation from the company.
The Indonesian unit of French-based Total SA also filed a
report to the Indonesia National Board of Arbitration (BANI) to
claim $12 million in liquidated damages caused by SKJ for failure
to complete the project in due time.
Total's lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said it would continue with
the arbitration proceedings and it was currently in the process
of selecting arbiters for the case.
In Paris, Total said it was "very satisfied" with the
decision.
A Total spokesman was quoted by AFP as saying that Total was
now waiting to see if the complainants would appeal the decision,
or attempt to file another suit in a civil court. Total is also
seeking damages for harm caused by the bankruptcy petition, he
said.