The Supreme Court imposed costs of Rs 50,000 on Adani Power for effectively seeking review of a case related to the late payment of surcharge by filing an application more than two years after final verdict was passed.
A Bench comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar dismissed the application filed by Adani Power today. The verdict came in a case related to late payment of dues owed by Rajasthan discom Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited to Adani Power.
Earlier in a 2020 judgment, the Supreme Court had held that Adani Power was not entitled to the payment of the said surcharge. In the view of the same, the discom paid the entire amount due and the same was accepted by Adani Power. Nonetheless, Adani later filed a miscellaneous application raising issue with the amount.
In January 2023, the discom addressed a letter to the Secretary General of the Supreme Court Registry underlining the fact that the application was listed for orders on January 6, 2023, despite the final disposal of the case on August 31, 2020. The letter mentioned that the issue went to the root of the Registry’s integrity.
Hence, the letter claimed that the application by Adani Power was a clear attempt to review the 2020 judgment after a lapse of more than two years, that too without moving for condonation of delay. It also stated that while the discom had moved an application for review, which was dismissed in March 2021, Adani did not file any review petition.
The top court had in January last year sought a report from the Registry on allegations levelled. During the hearings, the Supreme Court had expressed its surprise at the matter not being listed despite definitive judicial orders providing for the same.
The final proceedings witnessed a sharp exchange of words between Senior Advocates Dushyant Dave, appearing for the discom, and Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Adani Power.