Citing weak grounds for a challenge, the Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed a petition against the Maharashtra government's decision on the Dharavi slum redevelopment project in Mumbai and upheld the tender awarded to Adani Properties Private Limited.
A division bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar dismissed a petition filed by UAE-based Seclink Technologies Corporation, saying: "The grounds raised in the petition lack force and effort. The challenge to the government's action of cancelling the earlier tender and issuing a fresh tender award fails."
The Adani Group had emerged as the highest bidder for the 259-hectare Dharavi Redevelopment Project and bagged it with its Rs 5,069-crore offer in the 2022 tender process.
The petitioner company had emerged as the highest bidder with its Rs 7,200-crore offer in the first tender issued in 2018.
The Eknath Shinde government had canceled the 2018 tender and issued a fresh one in 2022 with additional conditions. The state government decided to include 45 acres of railway land in the project for slum rehabilitation, an element not included in the original proposal.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni had suggested that the state government should issue a new tender taking into account the changes and factoring in costs like what it would take to acquire this land.
The state government had opposed the claims of the petitioner and contended that the conditions incorporated into the revised tender conditions were not arbitrary but rather imperative for ensuring that the development was financially viable.
Referring to the changed economic landscape between 2019 and 2022, the state government justified its decision to cancel the 2018 tender and issue a fresh one in 2022.
Seclink Technologies Corporation first challenged the cancellation of the 2018 tender and subsequently the 2022 tender award to the Adani Group.
The state government had submitted before the High Court that the tender process was transparent.
Dharavi is one of the world's largest slums, spread over 2.8 sq km of prime land near the Bandra-Kurla. Established in 1884 during the British colonial era, it was initially used to house expelled factories and residents from the city centre of Mumbai. The informal leather and pottery industries are estimated to employ more than 100,000 people.
The Dharavi redevelopment plan will replace the existing informal settlements with modern housing, infrastructure, and commercial spaces.
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