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Informist, Tuesday, May 12, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Tuesday upheld its January order and said there was no status quo on the 108 hectares of grazing land allotted by the Gujarat government to Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. A bench of Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar rejected pleas by villagers alleging that the apex court had earlier directed for maintaining a status quo on the 108 hectares of land while pronouncing the oral order and asked the Gujarat High Court to treat their petitions independently, but the written order had no mention of status quo and the high court disposed of the case.

 

There was no occasion for this court to grant an order of status quo over the land without hearing Adani Ports, said the bench. When the order directing resumption of the land in question was found to be illegal due to want of hearing, on the admission of the state government, there was no occasion for the apex court to direct maintenance of status quo over the land since it would be an unreasonable restraint over the rights of Adani Ports on the resumed land, said the bench.

 

Whether the replenishment of the grazing land has to be done out of the land allocated to Adani Ports or by providing alternative land is a matter for the state government to decide, said the court. Even if it is assumed that the dictation of the draft order to the court-master is sufficient for the purpose of pronouncement of the judgment, grant of status quo over the land in question would be an error in law and a correction of it prior to signing it cannot be said to be a material change which required further hearing, it said.

 

"We are of the view that the draft order dictated in court has to be subject to corrections and enhancement, removal of any accidental inclusions or exclusions due to inadvertence, prior to signing, if not anything else, but out of practical requirements," said the court. However, it is subject to further hearing, in case material changes are being made in the draft order, it said. Considering the nature of pleadings and the attempts to undermine the authority of the apex court, the bench imposed a symbolic and exemplary cost of INR 2,000 each on the villagers, payable to the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.

 

On Jan. 27, the apex court had set aside a 2024 order of the Gujarat High Court asking authorities to implement the state government's decision to take back 108 hectares of grazing land from Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone and return it to villagers for cattle grazing. The top court noted that Adani Ports was not heard by the state government and the high court while deciding against the company in the land case. 

 

Adani Ports had said the high court's order, passed on Jul. 5, 2024, was in "blatant breach of natural justice". The company said the resumption order passed by the high court took away land lawfully and legally transferred to it and yet, it was not granted an opportunity to effectively present a case against this. 

 

The case has its genesis in a public interest litigation filed in the Gujarat High Court by Fakir Mamad Suleman Sameja and other villagers of Navinal against the state government's decision to allot 231 hectares of 'gauchar', or grazing land, to Adani Ports in 2005 near the Mundra port in Kutch district. In 2010, the villagers came to know about the allocation when Adani Ports had already started fencing the grazing land it had secured. On Jul. 5, 2024, the state government told the high court it would take back 108 hectares of land from Adani Ports and return it to villagers for the purpose of grazing. The court directed the authorities to complete the resumption process of the grazing land. 

 

Tuesday, shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone ended 4.5% lower at INR 1,688.20 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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