GMR Airports Gets Green Light To Upgrade And Operate Nagpur's International Airport

The Supreme Court on Friday disposed of a curative plea filed against a 2022 verdict that paved the way for GMR Airports Ltd. to upgrade and operate Nagpur’s Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport.

The plea was filed by the centre along with the Airports Authority of India.

As a result of the top court's order, GMR Airports will be able to exercise its rights over the international airport.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that a threshold for pressing this curative has not been met; in as much as there was no bias in the top court's verdict, parties were granted an adequate hearing, and no other analogous grounds arose.

In light of Mehta's submission, the court has closed the curative plea.

In May 2022, the top court upheld an order of the Bombay High Court that paved the way for GMR Airports to upgrade and operate the airport.

In 2021, the high court had quashed a communication issued by the joint venture firm, Multi Modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur, or MIHAN India Ltd. As per this communication, MIHAN had cancelled the award of contract to GMR Airports.

While upholding the high court’s order, the apex court had said the high court verdict was based on sound reasoning and true analysis of facts and therefore did not warrant interference.

Contracts, if granted by government bodies, are expected to uphold fairness, equality and rule of law, it said. "The transparent bidding process is favoured by the court to ensure that constitutional requirements are satisfied," the court said.

However, the centre and the Airports Authority of India filed a curative plea against the top court ruling.