In Brief
A power transmission company (HPPTC Ltd) sought to recover the full cost of constructing a power evacuation bay from one hydroelectric company (BHP Ltd) that applied for connection for three generating projects. BHP Ltd argued that costs should be shared with the other two project developers based on an internal tri-party agreement. The Supreme Court held that BHP Ltd alone bears contractual liability to HPPTC Ltd for the entire bay construction and maintenance costs under their connection agreement, since the other two companies were never parties to that agreement. While an internal agreement obligated those companies to reimburse BHP Ltd their shares, only BHP Ltd could enforce that internal arrangement, not HPPTC Ltd directly. The Court upheld the principle that non-parties to a contract cannot be held liable for its obligations."
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