Kerala High Court Dismisses State Govt's Plea Challenging Lease Of Thiruvananthapuram Airport

The Kerala High Court on Monday dismissed petitions filed by Kerala government and others challenging the Centre's decision to lease Thiruvananthapuram international airport to Adani Enterprises.

A division bench of the High Court comprising Justices K Vinod Chandran and C S Dias delivered the verdict, dismissing arguments raised by the state government and others opposing the Centre's decision to lease out the airport to Adani Enterprises Limited.

The Kerala government, on August 21, had moved the high court looking for a stay on additional procedures in renting Thiruvananthapuram global air terminal to Adani Enterprises. The state government had documented the application in the court, subsequent to directing an all-party-meeting in Kerala, where requests were raised for the withdrawal of the Union Cabinet's choice to rent the air terminal to Adani Enterprises. During the all-party-meet, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the state government had requested the administration and the activity of the air terminal. The Center had said that the state government didn't



qualify in the offering cycle that was done in a "straightforward way."

Last year, the high court had dismissed the petition challenging the decision, terming it as “not maintainable” under Article 226 of the Constitution. The state government then filed an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging the high court order. The apex court set aside the judgement of the high court and the matter was remanded back to it for a decision on merit.

Referring to the top court’s directive, the state government had said, "all further proceedings in relation to grant of lease with regard to operation, management and development of Thiruvananthapuram international airport to Adani Enterprises Ltd, is to be stayed pending disposal of the aforementioned writ petition."

The Adani Enterprises had won the rights to run six airports-- Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati -- through the PPP model after a competitive bidding process in February, 2019. The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) had taken part in the bidding.