Summary
On applications by the Delhi and Mumbai airport operators, the Supreme Court directed TDSAT to examine a previously unproduced Ministry of Civil Aviation letter for its effect on computation of the hypothetical regulatory asset base. It left the merits of the proposed single-till computation to the specialist tribunal.
Issues
- Whether the newly produced internal communication warranted reconsideration of the computation of the hypothetical regulatory asset base.
Held
- The Ministry’s letter of 24 May 2011 was an internal communication available to the non-applicants and should have been placed before the authorities. Its actual effect on the computation could not appropriately be determined without TDSAT’s opinion. (¶¶ 2, 12, 14)
- The Court’s earlier examination had proceeded within the scope of TDSAT’s decision. With the single-till question admittedly not decided there, the Court declined to reappreciate the technical facts itself and adopted a limited reference back to the tribunal. (¶¶ 7, 14, 15)
- TDSAT must independently examine the letter’s impact on HRAB and whether a single-till mechanism should govern its computation, uninfluenced by the Supreme Court’s approval of its earlier view. The Court did not itself endorse the operators’ proposed method. (¶ 15)
Result
Applications disposed of by directing TDSAT to examine the limited HRAB issue in light of the letter dated 24 May 2011. Affected parties could seek a remedy before the Supreme Court after that determination.