Kerala High Court can decide plea against allowing Adani to develop Thiruvananthapuram Airport: SC

The Supreme Court on Friday said the Kerala High Court can decide a plea against a request for proposal by the Airport Authority of India to grant the right of operation, management and development of Thiruvananthapuram Airport to Adani Enterprises Limited for a period of 50 years.

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde, Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant did not agree to a contention made by Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj that no cause of action has arisen as the contract is yet to be awarded.

Senior advocate C U Singh, representing the Kerala government, said that since the land being used for the airport was handed over to the AAI by the state, it should also be allowed to make a bidding in the process.

The state should not be barred to challenge the request for proposal, the counsel submitted.

On this, the top court remanded the matter back to the High Court.

In its plea, the CPM-led government questioned the validity of the high court's refusal on December 18, 2019, to entertain a writ petition filed by it on the ground that the dispute was related to the Centre and the State and it should have been raised before the top court.

The top court, however, left the question whether it was a dispute between the Centre and a state open for determination.

The state government also maintained that handing over the airport to Adani Enterprises Limited, having no previous experience in managing airports, was “not in public interest and is violative of the provisions of the Airport Authority of India Act of 1994 as well as the proprietary rights of the State Government as regards the land wherein the Thiruvananthapuram Airport is situated”.