Dubai judge rejects Nakheel’s snooze claim

DUBAI, (Reuters) – A special Dubai tribunal has rejected an appeal by state-owned property developer Nakheel for a retrial in a business dispute, after the company justified its appeal by claiming a judge fell asleep during a hearing.

The Dubai World Tribunal said the application for a retrial by Nakheel was “mischievous” and there was no merit in the claim. However, after reviewing video evidence the tribunal accepted that one of its members, Chief Justice Michael Hwang, had been inattentive for about six minutes.

The claim is a potential embarrassment for the tribunal, which is closely watched by investors in Dubai because it is central to many cases involving the emirate’s 2009 corporate debt crisis. The court was set up that year to hear cases concerning indebted flagship conglomerate Dubai World.

In the case which Nakheel had wanted retried, investor Shokat Mohammed Dalal is claiming back 57 million dirhams ($15.5 million) which he paid to reserve three islands in the company’s massive The World project.

Dalal claimed Nakheel did not build promised infrastructure on the islands. The trial has not yet reached a judgment.

Rejecting the appeal, tribunal Chairman Anthony Evans ruled that it had been agreed by both sides that no significant evidence was presented during the six minutes of inattentiveness.

Nakheel declined to comment on the failure of its appeal