The Supreme Court of India
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to halt the ongoing construction work for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), as it refused to overturn a decision of the Bombay High Court in favour of the Adani Group.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, however, issued a notice to the Maharashtra government and Adani Properties on a plea filed by Dubai-based Seclink Technology Corporation.
The UAE firm questioned the validity of the decision of the Maharashtra government to cancel its 2019 bid for the redevelopment of Dharavi slums and to issue a fresh tender in 2022 to Adani.
The bench, however, decided to consider the plea after Seclink said it would increase its offer by 20 per cent.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Adani Group, contended before the bench that construction had already started.
He said that the group had employed thousands of workers, invested significant funds, and procured construction equipment worth crores of rupees.
The bench was informed that the demolition of railway quarters on the site has been initiated.
The court then made it clear that it was not willing to put on hold the ongoing work at the project site.
The bench asked Adani to maintain an escrow account for all the payments.
Senior advocate C A Sundaram, appearing for Seclink, however, submitted that his client was willing to increase its bid by 20%, proposing a revised bid of Rs 8,640 crore, which is higher than Adani’s base bid of Rs 5,069 crore.
The bench asked Seclink to file an affidavit in this regard and scheduled the matter for hearing on May 25.
The Bombay High Court on December 20 2024, upheld the state government’s decision to cancel Seclink's 2019 bid for the redevelopment of Dharavi slums and issue a fresh tender in 2022 in favour of Adani.