SC closes case between Adani Ports and JNPT; gives relief to Adani group

The Supreme Court on Monday said the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority cannot cite the disqualification of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) from a Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) project as a reason to disqualify the company from future bids.

However, the court said that Adani Ports shall have no claim in the bidding process for the port in Navi Mumbai. Adani Ports had challenged a Bombay High Court order in its dispute with the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) for the Navi Mumbai port.

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Withdrawal of plea

The Supreme Court allowed a case involving a dispute between Adani Ports and the JNPT to be closed as the Adani group company agreed to withdraw the petition. The court took note of the agreement reached between the two sides and disposed of the case as withdrawn.

In June, Adani Ports had moved the Bombay High Court, challenging the board of trustees of JNPT for disqualifying its bid to upgrade a container terminal in Navi Mumbai. This came after JNPT earlier disqualified its bid citing a pending dispute between Adani Vizag Coal Terminal Pvt Ltd (AVCTPL) and Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT).

The JNPT bid was invited for upgradation, operation, maintenance and transfer of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal in Navi Mumbai through a public private partnership. Adani Ports was disqualified because the company did not reveal information about the termination of the concession agreement between AVCTPL and VPT in 2020.

Adani plea turned down by HC

While Adani Ports didn’t press for it to be allowed to participate in the bidding, it did challenge its disqualification in Bombay High Court. The court, however, termed the plea as non-meritorious, and directed Adani to pay Rs 5 lakh to the port authority for filing a case that lacked merit. Adani Ports challenged the verdict in Supreme Court.

The counsel for Adani Ports told the top court that the JNPT’s decision to disqualify the company had a bearing on its other bids and the disqualification should be stayed.

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Adani Ports claimed that Adani Vizag, an associate firm, was in a contractual relationship with VPT since 2011. During the pandemic, the company had intended termination of the agreement by invoking the force majeure clause. VPT, however, did not agree, whereafter Adani Vizag terminated the agreement on 21 October 2020, with effect from 19 January 2021