NHAI EPC Termination: Doctrine Shifts, Relief Denied

Split Decision

The Delhi High Court has redrawn the boundary of termination rights in NHAI EPC contracts — and the result is a split decision for contractors.

In Roadway Solutions India Infra Limited v. NHAI, the Court ruled that a for-cause termination clause does not render a highway EPC contract ‘determinable’ under Section 14(d) of the Specific Relief Act, 1963.

Yet it still refused to restrain NHAI from acting on its July 16, 2026 notice of intention to terminate.

The contractor-friendly half is doctrinal.

Applying the Supreme Court’s K.S. Manjunath reasoning, the Court separated contracts terminable at will from those terminable only after specified defaults, notice and a cure period.

Clause 23 of the October 17, 2022 contract required default plus cure, so the contract was not inherently determinable — narrowing Section 14(d) and breaking from the older Delhi High Court line in Turnaround Logistics and Ksheeraabd Construction.

Why Interim Relief Failed

The practical half favours the authority.

Roadway Solutions India Infra’s Section 9 petition failed the classic triad:

- Prima facie case
- Balance of convenience
- Irreparable injury

A 60-day cure notice issued January 2, 2026 had expired before termination was threatened.

Whether defaults occurred was left to the Arbitral Tribunal.

Decisively, Sections 20A and 41(ha) of the Specific Relief Act restrict injunctions that would delay public infrastructure.

Citing NHAI v. Roadway Solutions and NG Projects, the Court held that wrongful termination is compensable in damages, while delayed highway completion causes larger public loss.

What It Means for Contractors

For contractors, the signal is stark.

A doctrinal win does not buy an injunction against NHAI.

Termination risk stays live; the remedy is monetary, not equitable.

Execution teams should treat contract administration as the first line of defence:

- Curing defaults inside the 60-day window
- Documenting right-of-way and work-front failures under Clause 8.1 contemporaneously
- Building quantum claims for expedited arbitration

Author Faranaaz Karbhari, Counsel at HSA Advocates, reads the judgment as contractor-friendly, but the enforceable outcome is that public-interest logic defeats interim relief in highway disputes.

The structural takeaway for EPC delivery teams: a termination notice is now an arbitrable event to be monetized, not enjoined.

That reshapes claim strategy, bank guarantee exposure and subcontractor management long before NHAI issues a cure notice.