The Supreme Court, in a rare move, has issued notice in a curative petition filed by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. (GUVNL) against a July 2019 judgment of the apex court upholding the termination of a power purchase agreement (PPA) by Adani Power (Mundra) Ltd.
The apex court exercises its curative jurisdiction only in extraordinary circumstances, primarily to prevent miscarriage of justice and abuse of process.
A five-judge Curative Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana issued notice on the GUVNL curative while observing that it had “substantial questions of law” which needed answering.
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The other judges on the Curative Bench include Justices U.U. Lalit, A.M. Khanwilkar, B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant. The order was passed by circulation of the case papers among the judges.
“We have gone through the curative petition and the relevant documents,” the Bench observed in an order dated September 16. “In our prima facie opinion, there are substantial questions of law raised in this curative petition, which require consideration. Issue notice,” it ordered, listing the matter to be heard in open court on September 30.
The case relates to Adani Power’s termination of the PPA with GUVNL citing GMDC’s failure to supply it coal. The Gujarat State Electricity Regulatory Commission and later an appellate tribunal held the termination ‘illegal’.
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On appeal, a three-judge Bench of the apex court led by Justice Arun Mishra (now retired) upheld the termination and ruled that Adani Power be paid compensatory tariff in order to do “economic justice”.
This case finds mention in an August 2019 letter from senior advocate Dushyant Dave to the then Chief Justice of India. The senior lawyer had expressed his puzzlement at the manner in which the case was suddenly listed, heard and reserved for judgment by a Bench in a matter of two days during vacations in May 2019.