Mumbai High Court Rejects PIL Challenging Borivali-Thane Tunnel Project Bank Guarantees

The Bombay High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on Tuesday that sought an investigation into the bank guarantees provided by Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) for the ₹16,000 crore Borivali-Thane Twin Tube Tunnel project.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Bharati Dangre issued the ruling, stating, "In view of preceding analysis, the PIL is dismissed."

The court had reserved its decision on March 5 after considering the PIL, which was filed by journalist Ravi Prakash from Hyderabad.

During the hearings, significant questions were raised about the intent and conduct of the petitioner. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Maharashtra Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), argued that the petition was not viable due to the petitioner’s lack of standing. He highlighted that the guarantees in question were verified by the State Bank of India and the State Bank of Maharashtra—information that the petitioner allegedly omitted.

On behalf of MEIL, Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and senior counsel Darius Khambata argued that the PIL was motivated by personal grievances rather than true public concern, advocating for measures to prevent the misuse of the PIL system.

In defense, the petitioner’s lawyer, Prashant Bhushan, acknowledged that the social media posts, made in a moment of “over-enthusiasm,” had been deleted and were not widely viewed. He suggested that if the court found the petitioner did not have standing, it might consider appointing an amicus curiae to explore the matter further.