SC declines to halt Adani Group’s Dharavi redevelopment work, asks Seclink to submit latest bid on record | Company Business News

The Supreme Court docket refused to grant an interim keep on the Dharavi Slum Rehabilitation challenge being carried out by the Adani Group, as sought by an organization that misplaced out on the contract.

A bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna heard a plea filed by Dubai-based Seclink Expertise Company, difficult the award of the challenge to Adani. Nonetheless, the court docket agreed on Friday to look at Seclink’s petition and issued notices to the Maharashtra authorities and the Adani Group.

The highest court docket refused to halt the continuing work on the challenge web site after senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Adani Group, mentioned that building had already began. He mentioned that Adani had employed over 2,000 employees, invested vital funds, procured building tools value crores of rupees, and initiated the demolition of railway quarters on the positioning.

The court docket directed the Adani Group to channel all project-related funds by a single escrow account, with correct documentation, together with invoices and brochures. Any monetary transactions associated to the challenge have to be routed by this designated account.

Seclink’s bid

Senior advocate C. Aryama Sundaram, representing Seclink, argued that the corporate was prepared to enhance its bid by 20%, proposing a revised bid of ₹8,640 crore—considerably larger than Adani’s base bid of ₹5,069 crore.

He highlighted that Seclink’s ₹8,640 crore bid excluded an upfront fee of ₹1,000 crore to the Indian Railways and an indemnity quantity of ₹2,800 crore. This, in accordance to Seclink, made its total monetary dedication larger than Adani’s complete bid of ₹8,869 crore.

The Supreme Court docket directed Seclink to submit an official enterprise by an affidavit confirming its latest monetary provide.

The case will likely be heard subsequent in Could, when the court docket is probably going to look at the latest bid provide proposed by Seclink.

Seclink had beforehand challenged the challenge award within the Bombay Excessive Court docket, which, on December 20, upheld the Maharashtra State Housing Division’s determination to grant the Dharavi Slum Rehabilitation Challenge to Adani Properties Pvt Ltd.

The excessive court docket dismissed Seclink’s plea, clearing the best way for Adani to spearhead the redevelopment of the 259-hectare slum in central Mumbai—one in every of Asia’s largest.

Seclink, which misplaced the bid in 2022, argued that its preliminary ₹7,200 crore bid was larger and extra deserving than Adani’s ₹5,069 crore provide. The corporate alleged that the Maharashtra authorities unfairly scrapped the unique tender course of and issued a contemporary one, tilting the competitors in Adani’s favour.

Nonetheless, the Bombay Excessive Court docket dominated that Seclink’s claims lacked benefit. It rejected the argument that the revised tender situations have been designed to exclude Seclink and profit Adani.

The Dharavi redevelopment initiative gained momentum in 2016 when the BJP-Shiv Sena authorities, led by then-chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, ready an in depth challenge report. In 2018, the administration authorised a brand new challenge mannequin, setting the stage for contemporary bidding.

Seclink was initially declared the best bidder in January 2019. Nonetheless, in November 2020, the Maharashtra authorities scrapped the tender, citing modifications in challenge necessities.

In November 2022, Adani Properties gained the redevelopment contract with a ₹5,069 crore bid, together with a compulsory ₹2,800 crore fee to the Railway Land Improvement Authority, bringing the entire monetary dedication to ₹7,869 crore—surpassing Seclink’s unique bid.

Dissatisfied with the end result, Seclink mounted a authorized problem within the Bombay Excessive Court docket in 2023. The corporate reiterated that its ₹7,200 crore bid was larger and that the federal government’s determination to cancel the preliminary tender in 2020 was unfair and finally benefitted Adani.

The Slum Rehabilitation Authority countered that the 2022 tender course of was justified as a result of it included a 45-acre substitute for railway land, altering the scope of the challenge from the unique tender. Whereas Adani certified underneath the revised phrases, Seclink claimed there have been no substantial variations between the outdated and new tenders.

Revised phrases

The Maharashtra authorities defended the contemporary bidding course of, calling it clear and inclusive. Officers identified that the revised challenge phrases addressed the rehabilitation of about 700,000 non-eligible slum dwellers—a side lacking within the unique tender. The brand new tender additionally required the ₹2,800 crore fee for incorporating railway land into the challenge.

The federal government additional argued that Seclink opted not to take part within the 2022 bidding course of and later raised baseless objections. 

The Bombay Excessive Court docket noticed that if Seclink had considerations in regards to the contemporary bid situations, it ought to have challenged them earlier than the monetary bids have been opened. Because it failed to accomplish that, the court docket deemed its problem inadmissible, prompting Seclink to method the Supreme Court docket.