Attorney General’s Office defends MVR 15M compensation to Mandhu College

Attorney General’s Office issued a statement this Monday defending decision by the State to settle for an MVR 15 million compensation to Male’ High Pvt. Ltd – which operates Mandhu College – stating it was compensation the college was entitled to for damages it incurred because Education Ministry violated its agreement.

An assessment conducted by the Auditor General’s Office at the request of Education Ministry last year concluded Mandhu College was entitled to only MVR 1.5 million as compensation. However, the State agreed to pay MVR 15 million when Mandhu College filed its lawsuit against Education Ministry with the Civil Court.

The decision has sparked criticism against the State and Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath himself.

In a statement on Monday morning, Attorney General’s Office said the compensation to Mandhu College was “damages directly linked with the violation of the agreement.”

The Attorney General’s Office said that the counsel by the Auditor General’s Office in the matter contradicts with legal standards.

“The counsel by the Auditor General’s Office contradicts with policies established in court rulings to compensate for direct damages from a violation of a contract with reference to Article 23 of Contract Act

“The counsel by the Auditor General’s Office contradicts with freedom of contract and standards that establish contracts must be executed based on which policies and agreements established in court rulings to compensate for direct damages from a violation of a contract with reference to Article 23 of Contract Act are issued,” said the Attorney General’s Office in the statement.

Attorney General’s Office said that the Education Ministry, in a letter to the office on April 19 this year, said Mandhu College was entitled to MVR 15,012,500 as compensation – MVR 4,317,500 to procure the assets needed to restart the college due to the unlawful termination of the agreement, and MVR 10,695,000 incurred as rent due to having to move to a different building.

Attorney General’s Office said that the assessment by Auditor General’s Office concludes Mandhu College is not entitled to compensation for rent they had to pay for the new building.

“According to this report [by the Auditor General’s Office], though the agreement between Ministry of Education and Male’ High was terminated and the MES building taken from Male’ High, it is the Auditor General’s opinion that the rent for another building does not require compensation as Male’ High did not operate an international school,” reads the statement.

However, when the Auditor General reached that conclusion, Education Ministry had not given authorization to Male’ High to operate an international school, said the Attorney General’s Office.

The report by Auditor General’s Office recommended two compensation options.

The first option was an MVR 1.27 million compensation; MVR 100,580 as compensation for Mandhu College’s assets and inventory in the building, and MVR 1.18 million as compensation for Mandhu College’s investment in the building.

The second option was an MVR 1.58 million compensation; MVR 166,599 as compensation for Mandhu College’s assets and inventory in the building, and MVR 1.41 million as compensation for Mandhu College’s investment in the building.