The Hindu Business Line : Mundra SEZ: Adani group can go ahead with construction work

Legal wrangle
The petitioners of the PIL had challenged the construction activity on environmental grounds
A Bench of the apex court also ruled that there shall be no filling of any creek near the SEZ

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New Delhi/Ahmedabad, July 9 The Adani Group can now go ahead with the construction work in multi-product Mundra SEZ with the Supreme Court vacating its earlier interim stay on further construction activities in the project.

The apex court on Wednesday permitted the petitioners of the public interest litigation (PIL) to withdraw their writ petition that challenged the construction activity on environmental and other grounds at the Mundra SEZ in the Kutch district of Gujarat, which is being developed by the Adani Group.

According to a copy of the order, the petitioners submitted that they would like to move the High Court. The apex court had, earlier, passed an interim order directing the parties to maintain status quo with regard to the land in question.

A Bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice Mr K.G. Balakrishnan, Mr Justice P. Sathasivam and Mr Justice J.M. Panchal, also ruled that there shall be no filling of any creek near the SEZ, as requested by the petitioners’ counsel, until July 18, 2008. On this, Adani Group’s counsel submitted that they have no intention to fill up the creek.

Meanwhile, Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Ltd today informed BSE: “…The work in SEZ, therefore, will continue as per the plans, hereafter”.

The stock price of Mundra Port and SEZ Ltd, which is developing both the port as well as the adjacent SEZ, closed today at Rs 554, up from Tuesday’s Rs.461.70, an increase of nearly 20 per cent with upper and lower circuit limits being Rs 554 and Rs 369.40, respectively.

On July 2, when the Supreme Court stayed construction activity at the site, the stock had plummeted to its lowest price of Rs 388.15. The company had raised Rs 1,770 crore through its IPO in November last year when it was subscribed by over 115 times.

The multi-product SEZ, when complete, would be spread over a planned area of nearly 32,000 hectares with the Adanis providing infrastructural facilities to the industries setting up units in the SEZ.

A number of industrial houses, including two hospitals, have already signed up for the purpose, company sources told Business Line.

Land acquisition for the SEZ is currently under progress with nearly 10,000 hectares acquired so far.

Last week, the Supreme Court Bench, comprising Mr Justice Altamas Kabir and Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi, had, in its interim order, stayed construction activity and directed to maintain status quo at the SEZ being developed by the Adani Group which is also the promoter of India’s largest privately-operated multi-commodity port.

The apex court’s stay came in the wake of fishermen from the area filing a PIL on grounds of environmental and other concerns. The main petitioner, Mr Imran Salim Jat, maintained that the construction activity would be dangerous for the ecologically fragile area, and rob the fishermen of their livelihood.

The petition stated that the mangrove in the region has been damaged by the promoters for setting up the industrial zone in the SEZ. However, in its submission, the Adani Group maintained that the petitioners were neither farmers nor fishermen but had different means of livelihood.