Scams delay shipping ministry affidavit in Tuticorin port case

In what could be a fallout of the recent unfolding of scams, the shipping ministry’s response in filing a counter-affidavit in the Tuticorin Port Trust case in the Supreme Court has been delayed.

A senior ministry official said the final vetting of the government’s counter-affidavit was yet to take place. “The solicitor general has yet to see the affidavit that we have to file. Due to recent events, the matter got postponed,” said a senior official in the ministry.

The shipping ministry now hopes to file the affidavit by next week, which will help in speeding allocation of the fourth terminal at Navi Mumbai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT). “The SC has clubbed both — JNPT fourth terminal case and the Tuticorin Port case. It’s only after the affidavit is filed for the latter that we will get a final verdict on the JNPT case as well,” the official added.

The Tuticorin Port Trust case is being contested against PSA Sical — a joint venture of Port of Singapore Authority and Sical of Chennai, which had bid for consecutive container terminal berths at the port. The bid was cancelled by the shipping ministry due to concerns that it would lead to monopoly at the port. Since there was no law in place to curb the private players, the matter came under litigation and bids were invited again.

The ministry was hoping to award the contract for the fourth container terminal, with a massive quay length of two kilometres by the end of 2010. This is the second time the terminal had been put up for bidding. The first round of bidding was cancelled by the ministry, as the bid failed to attract enough participation.

APM had contested its disqualification in the Bombay High Court, but after losing the case it had appealed to the Supreme Court last year.