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Supreme Court, SC (Photo: Shutterstock)
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed curative petitions filed by the Centre and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) seeking reconsideration of its 2022 judgment allowing private firm GMR Airports to upgrade and operate Nagpur’s Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport.
GMR Airports can now operate Nagpur’s airport.
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The court had sought the views of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre.
“One or two issues we may be able to argue… but this may not fall under Rupa Ashok Hurra: Bias, lack of hearing, and some other analogous ground… so these proceedings cannot be made into an intra-court appeal. I must own my decision… there was an opinion given by an earlier counsel hinting at a ground of bias… but it is my professional opinion that there is no ground of bias and there cannot be any bias. Union of India and AAI may not be necessary parties,” he said.
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He added that he personally thinks the curative petitions were not maintainable as they did not meet the threefold requirements of bias, lack of hearing, or any other analogous grounds.
The Solicitor General, however, requested the court to clarify the observation made by the High Court that in such kinds of contracts, the Union of India or the AAI are not necessary parties, saying it might impact other contracts. The court agreed to clarify that this observation of the High Court cannot be read as a correct statement of law.
The bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, and J K Maheshwari recorded the Solicitor General’s statement and closed the matter.
“The learned Solicitor General has, however, submitted that this court may issue a clarification regarding the findings in paragraph 51 of the impugned judgment (HC judgment) to the effect that in such matters, neither the Union of India nor the AAI are necessary parties. The Solicitor General submits that if the above statement of law is to continue to hold the field in the future, certain difficulties may be encountered by the Union of India and the Airports Authority of India in future litigations. We find the above approach of the Solicitor General to be fair. Based on the statement of the Solicitor General, we record that the curative petition is not pressed before this court. However, it is clarified that the observation in paragraph 51 of the impugned judgment to the effect that neither the Union of India nor the Airports Authority of India are necessary parties to such proceedings would not be reflective of the correct position of law, and the issue is left open to be decided in an appropriate case in the future,” the court said.
The Bombay High Court had upheld GMR’s right to operate the airport, a decision that was affirmed by the Supreme Court in May 2022.
Then AAI attempted to challenge this verdict by filing a review petition, which was dismissed in May last year.
After that, a plea for a curative petition was filed.
First Published: Sep 27 2024 | 9:53 PM IST
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