Interim stay does not suspend interest liability on unpaid amounts, though the rate may be reduced if excessive.

A party protected by an interim stay cannot use that protection to avoid liability for interest on unpaid amounts that remained due during the stay period. Applying actus curiae neminem gravabit, the SC held that interest could be charged for the interval in which the stay operated and set aside the contrary direction. The Court, however, found the contractual rate excessive on the facts and reduced interest to 15% per annum.

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Issues: Whether interest could be charged on the amount due for the period during which the stay order granted by the Commission remained in operation.

Analysis: The appeals concerned a direction of the Commission that the appellants could not recover interest for the period covered by the interim stay. The Court applied the principle that a party obtaining a stay cannot take advantage of its own interim protection to avoid the financial consequences of delayed payment. Relying on the maxim actus curiae neminem gravabit and earlier decisions, the Court held that the amount remained payable during the stay period and that interest could be levied for that interval. The Court also found the contractual rate of 20% to be excessive in the facts and reduced it to 15% per annum.

Conclusion: The appellants were entitled to charge interest for the period during which the stay operated, at 15% per annum, and the contrary direction of the Commission was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: A party that obtains interim protection from a court or tribunal cannot, for that period, avoid liability to pay interest on amounts that remained unpaid because of the stay, though the rate of interest may be moderated if found excessive.

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