Adani Ports moves SC as HC rejects plea against JNPA for disqualifying bid

The contract was for upgrading a container terminal in Navi Mumbai; Adani counsel urges top court to restrain JNPA from proceeding with other bids

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited approached the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court’s order dismissing its plea challenging the disqualification of its bid by the Board of Trustees of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA).

The contract was for upgrading a container terminal in Navi Mumbai.

The counsel for Adani Ports approached the apex court bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala on Tuesday seeking an urgent listing of the matter. The counsel sought to restrain JNPA from proceeding with other bids until the matter is heard by the apex court.

“This is an extraordinary urgency. India's leading port manager was cleared as a bidder, but was disqualified later. Then, the High Court gave a judgment yesterday dismissing our plea challenging the disqualification and now they are offering the bid again. Kindly list the matter tomorrow and ask them to not proceed with other bids,” the counsel for Adani Ports, said in a virtual appearance.

The bench told the counsel to approach the Vacation Officer. “Please go before the Registry,” the court said.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik of Bombay High Court had earlier rejected the plea by Adani Ports and asked them to pay Rs 5 lakh to JNPA. It had already submitted Rs 4.25 lakh to JNPA with the tender so Rs 75,000 was outstanding. It had also refused to restrict JNPA to proceed with other bids.

The plea said the bidding process had two stages, namely, the first stage being a global invitation of ‘Request for Qualification’ (RFQ) from interested parties, and the second stage was where the applicants had to send their ‘Request for Proposal.’ Adani Ports said the Board of Trustees JNPA had sought a clarification from them after they submitted their RFQ.

Though the JNPA Board acknowledged that Adani Ports had clarified the query the Board had sought, the Board later disqualified Adani from the bidding process. “The power of disqualification has been exercised according to the terms and conditions of the RFQ,” the Board said in its submission to the High Court.

Meanwhile, Adani had said the Board’s disqualification was ‘illegal and in violation of fundamental rights'.