Supreme Court Adjourns Hearing on Dharavi Redevelopment Project Dispute

The Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing on a plea by UAE-based Seclink Technologies Corporation challenging the Maharashtra government's decision to award Mumbai's Dharavi redevelopment project to Adani Properties Pvt Ltd. The hearing has been postponed to the first week of December.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and Vipul Pancholi noted that the CJI will not be able to complete the hearing in the matter as he is due to retire on November 23. Chief Justice Gavai observed, “Our hands are full, how many judgments will I write?”

On March 7, the top court had refused to halt the project and sought responses from the Maharashtra government and Adani Properties Pvt Ltd on a petition challenging a December 20, 2024, verdict of the Bombay High Court. The high court had cleared the decks for redevelopment of the slums in Dharavi and upheld the tender awarded to the Adani Group for the project, ruling there was no “arbitrariness, unreasonableness or perversity” in the decision.

Seclink Technologies Corporation emerged as the highest bidder for the project first in 2018 with its Rs 7,200-crore offer, but the tender was later scrapped by the government. The Adani Group had emerged as the highest bidder for the 259-hectare Dharavi redevelopment project in the heart of Mumbai and bagged it with its Rs 5,069-crore offer in the 2022 tender process. Seclink Technologies Corporation has moved the apex court against the high court decision.

While issuing notice on its plea, the top court directed Adani Properties Pvt Ltd to make payments for the project through a single bank account. The high court had also rejected Seclink Technologies Corporation's contention that the tender was “tailor-made” to suit a particular firm of the private conglomerate, noting three bidders had participated in the process.

The government had cancelled the 2018 tender and issued a fresh one in 2022 with additional conditions. Seclink Technologies Corporation first challenged the cancellation of the 2018 tender and subsequently the 2022 award of tender to the Adani Group. The state government had claimed in the high court that the tender was awarded in a transparent manner without any undue favour to the highest bidder.

The government said the 2018 tender was cancelled and a fresh one was issued four years later owing to several factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war which affected the financial and economic state of affairs. The first tender for the mega redevelopment project was issued in November 2018. In March 2019, the bids were opened, and it was found that Seclink Technologies Corporation was the highest bidder.

Dharavi, one of the world's densest urban sprawls, is a slum colony having a mix of residential and small industrial units. The redevelopment project aims to transform this area into a modern, sustainable community, providing better living conditions for its residents and boosting the local economy.