Authority: Supreme Court of India

Order Date: 16-10-2026

Case Overview

  • Petitioners: Project Director, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
  • Respondents: Sheela Vishwasrao Kachare & Ors.
  • Petitions: Special Leave Petition (Civil) Diary No.39435/2026 and Diary No.39440/2026, arising from High Court orders dated 07‑Oct‑2025 (writ petition WP No.4456 of 2025) and 22‑Jun‑2026 (contempt petition CP No.593/2025) passed by separate Division Benches of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Circuit Bench at Kolhapur.
  • Delay details: For Diary No.39435/2026, filing delay of 182 days and refiling delay of 53 days; for Diary No.39440/2026, filing delay of 179 days and refiling delay of 28 days.
  • Applications for condonation of delay (IA Nos.300947‑300951/2026 and IA Nos.265803‑265810/2026) were filed, but the Court noted that only scant reasons were provided.
  • Counsel for petitioner: Mr. Sandeep S. Ladda, Adv.; Mrs. Prabhleen Apoorv Shukla (AOR).
  • Counsel for respondents: Mr. Rajive Bhalla, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Ashok Mathur (AOR); Ms. Manpreet Kaur, Adv.; Ms. Shradha Zutshi, Adv.
  • Bench: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Dipankar Datta and Hon'ble Mr. Justice Sheel Nagu.

Order Details

1. The Court allowed the prayers for condonation of delay for both petitions, subject to payment of cost of Rs 1,00,000 (Rupees one lakh) to each set of respondents, payable by the next date of hearing.

2. The Court expressed prima facie satisfaction that the High Court may not have been correct in disposing of the writ petition on 07‑Oct‑2025 without examining compliance with Section 3E of the National Highways Act, 1956, and therefore issued a notice.

3. Mr. Ashok Mathur, learned counsel, accepted notice on behalf of Respondent No.1; formal service of notice was dispensed with.

4. A stay of the contempt proceedings before the High Court was ordered.

5. The Court noted that the petitioner informed that the interest component under the order dated 07‑Oct‑2025 and the contempt orders had been deposited with the Registrar General of the High Court; consequently, the Court invited a counter‑affidavit from the respondents.

6. The respondents were directed to file the counter‑affidavit within three weeks of this order; any rejoinder, if filed, must be submitted within one week thereafter.

7. The matter was to be tagged with S.L.P. (C) Diary No.39415/2026.

8. The order was signed by Senior Personal Assistant Court Master (NSH): Manik Kumar and Sudhir Kumar Sharma.

Final Outcome

  • Condensation of delay was granted for both Special Leave Petitions, with a cost liability of Rs 1 Lakh each on the petitioner.
  • Stay of contempt proceedings was imposed.
  • Notice issued regarding Section 3E compliance; service of notice waived.
  • Respondents to file counter‑affidavit within three weeks and rejoinder within a week; case tagged under Diary No.39415/2026.

Topics: Legal Proceedings, Infrastructure Regulation, Court Orders