Staff Reporter
Panaji
The Supreme Court has rejected Vedanta Ltd’s appeal to halt Goa government’s e-auction for the iron ore mining lease in Curpem and Sulcorna Mineral Block-XI.
Vedanta had sought to be declared the preferred bidder after emerging as the highest bidder in the November 14 auction. However, the Apex Court upheld the High Court’s decision allowing further bidding.
The Goa Directorate of Mines and Geology had resumed the auction after Agravanshi Pvt Ltd, another bidder, claimed that a technical glitch had prevented them from improving their bid. Vedanta contended that the glitch was at the bidder’s end, requesting the auction to be closed, but the court refused to intervene.
Earlier, the High Court of Bombay at Goa had dismissed Vedanta’s petition, which sought directions to the state government and the Director of Mines and Geology to issue the Preferred Bidder Award and subsequent Letter of Intent (LOI) for the Curpem and Sulcorna Mineral Block-XI in its favour. The company had challenged the auction process, citing technical issues.
The court ruled that the state’s decision to resume the auction process was neither arbitrary nor unreasonable, affirming that it adhered to the terms of the notice inviting tender. The petition was dismissed with no order as to costs, and the court rejected Vedanta’s request to stay the order for four weeks. Furthermore, the High Court observed that the case did not meet the criteria of arbitrariness or unfairness in state action, referencing legal precedents, including the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Tata Cellular case.
