From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: Adani Ports on Tuesday challenged rejection of its tender bid by JNPA (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority) in the Supreme Court.
It came in an appeal a day after the Bombay High Court rejected the application of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd., challenging the decision of the JNPT board of directors to disqualify its bid for upgrade of a container terminal in Navi Mumbai.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Adani Ports, mentioned the matter for urgen hearing before a vacation bench of Jutices Surya Kant and Jamshed B Pardiwala.
The bench, however, said that the procedure during vacation for seeking urgent listing is to mention it before the Registry and asked Singhvi to mention it before the Registry or vacation officer.
“We made an exception yesterday, passed an order to list a matter but the Registry did not list the matter. We don’t want to say more,” said Justice Surya Kant.
Singhvi asked the court to at least grant status quo by way of restraining the Port Authority from proceeding with the bids.
He said: “There is extraordinary urgency. I am India’s leading port manager and cleared the port trust bid as early as December 2021 and I have been disqualified. Disqualification was challenged by me in the High Court. High Court passed the order yesterday and today they are threatening me to call other bids. Till tomorrow they should not proceed further.”
The Bench, however, refused to comment, asking the counsel to mention the matter before the Registry.
Before the High Court, Adani had termed JNPA’s disqualification as illegal and in violation of fundamental and legal rights. The High Court had also imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakh while terming the petition of Adani as “non meritorious.”
