The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea by the Kerala government and others against the decision by the Central government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to allow Adani Enterprises to operate, manage, and develop the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
A bench of Chief Justice U U Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi said there is no need to interfere with the High Court decision at this stage, since a private entity has been managing the operations of the airport since October, 2021.
"Considering the fact that the private entity has been in operation since October 2021, we see no reason to interfere," the bench said as it also declined to entertain another plea filed by Airports Authority Employees Union (AAEU) and others challenging the High Court order.
The bench, however, clarified that the question in connection with the ownership of land, on which the airport is situated, would remain open.
Senior advocate C U Singh, appearing for the Kerala government, contended before the bench that the land on which the airport is situated belonged to the state government, and the state should get preferential rights, and also alleged that the RFP (request for proposal) was tailor-made to suit the Adani group.
However, the bench pointed out that the state government did not challenge the RFP conditions. Rather, it participated in the bid.
The state government had challenged the AAI's decision to prefer Adani over it for management of the airport.
Singh claimed the decision was not in public interest as Adani Enterprises had no previous experience in managing this airport. The move was also violative of the provisions of the Airports Authority of India Act, he contended.
The state government had approached the Kerala High Court after losing the bid by the state-owned Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation and the GMR group. The High Court had in October 2020 rejected the plea to lease out the Thiruvananthapuram Airport to Adani Enterprises for 50 years.
The airport was established in 1932 and was upgraded as international one in 1991.