SC refuses status quo on Dharavi redevelopment
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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday refused to order a status quo on Dharavi redevelopment project in Mumbai.
A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar sought responses from the Maharashtra government and Adani Properties Pvt Ltd, which was awarded the tender for the project, 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.
The high court in the process dismissed the plea of UAE-based Seclink Technologies Corporation challenging the state government's decision to award the mega redevelopment project to Adani Properties Pvt Ltd, which had made a Rs 5,069-crore offer.
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.
The corporation moved against the high court decision.
While issuing notice on its plea, the bench directed Adani Properties Pvt Ltd to make payments for the project through a single bank account.
After the bench issued notice on the plea, senior advocate C Aryama Sundaram appearing for Seclink Technologies Corporation urged the court to order a status quo.
The CJI, however, said, "No."
Sundaram informed the bench that the petitioner company offered Rs 7,200 crore in the first tender.
"I will increase my offer of Rs 7,200 crore by 20 per cent," he told the bench, adding that the figure comes to Rs 8,640 crore.
"What about additional obligations?" asked solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state.
When the bench asked Sundaram, if it was willing to increase the offer "with the same obligations as put on the highest bidder", Sundaram said "yes".
The bench noted Sundaram's submission on the proposed commitment and said, "The petitioner will file an affidavit to the said effect before this court."
The matter would come in the week of May 25.
The bench, however, clarified no special equities would be claimed by either sides.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Adani Properties Pvt Ltd, said the project work had already commenced.
"I have carried out constructions. I have deposited funds. About 2,000 people are employed," he said.
Mehta said some railway quarters were demolished aside from new constructions taking place.
While dismissing Seclink Technologies Corporation's plea, the high court had also rejected its 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.
The 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.
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Bhojshala case: Disputed structure built from remains of pre-existing temples, claims ASI
Indore (PTI): The ASI has told the Madhya Pradesh High Court that a massive structure dating back to the Paramara kings' rule existed at the disputed Bhojshala temple-Kamal Maula mosque complex, and the current structure was built from the remains of temples.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) made the claim on Tuesday based on its 98-day scientific survey and over 2,000-page report.
The Hindu community considers Bhojshala a temple dedicated to Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), while the Muslim side claims the monument as the Kamal Maula Mosque. The disputed complex is protected by the ASI.
During the hearing before Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi of the HC's Indore bench, Additional Solicitor General Sunil Kumar Jain, representing the ASI, presented a detailed account of the scientific survey conducted two years ago at the complex.
Referring to the ASI's survey report, he said, "Retrieved architectural remains, sculptural fragments, large slabs of inscriptions with literary texts, Nagakarnika inscriptions on pillars, etc, suggest that a large structure associated with literary and educational activities existed at the site. Based on scientific investigations and archaeological remains recovered during the investigations, this pre-existing structure can be dated to the Paramara period."
It can be said that the existing structure was made from the parts of earlier temples, based on scientific investigations, survey and archaeological excavations conducted, study and analysis of retrieved finds, study of architectural remains, sculptures, and inscriptions, art and sculptures, Jain said quoting the report.
Summarising the report, he also drew the court's attention to the fact that the archaeological study identifies that many architectural components, such as pillars and beams, were originally part of temple structures before being repurposed for a mosque.
"The evidence of this transition includes Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions that were damaged or hidden, alongside sculptures of deities and animals that were often mutilated or defaced," Jain contended.
The report also states that "all Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions are older than the Arabic and Persian inscriptions, indicating that users or engravers of the Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions occupied the place earlier".
In light of the Muslim side's earlier objections, the bench wanted to know why there were some discrepancies in the ASI's responses regarding the status of the disputed complex in the cases filed over the years.
The Additional Solicitor General argued that earlier studies of the complex involved only officials, while the current survey involved scientists and the use of advanced technologies such as Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).
The hearing in the Bhojshala case will continue on Wednesday.
The high court has been regularly hearing four petitions and one writ appeal regarding the religious nature of the Bhojshala temple-Kamal Maula mosque complex since April 6.
