The Supreme Court has rejected the plea which was filed by Kerala government challenging the High Court judgement of October 2020 judgment by which Adani Enterprises was allowed to operate, manage and develop the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India UU Lalitand Justice Bela M Trivedi have also rejected the plea filed by Airport Authority Employees Union a(AAEU) and AAEU’s president KP Suresh.
The Court said that there is not reason or need to to interfere as the private entity has been managing the operations of the aiport since October 2021.
The court ordered that considering the fact that private entity has been in operation since October 2021, we see no reason to entertain the special leave petition. Thus, appeal dismissed.
The Court however clarified that the question regarding ownership of land on which the airport is situated, would remain open.
The plea was filed by the State challenging the action of the Airports Authority of India to prefer Adani over the state government for management of the Thiruvananthapuram Airport.
The plea stated that the decision was not in public interest and was vitiated by malafides and also was a violation of the provisions of the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994.
It also said that grant of concession to Adani was in violation of an earlier undertaking by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation rejecting the proposal of the State government to form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to take over and run the Airport on a revenue-sharing basis.
It was contended that granting concession to Adani, who has “no previous experience in managing airports”, was violative of the provisions of the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994 as well as the proprietary rights of the State government as regards the land on which the Thiruvananthapuram Airport is situate