Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court criticised the practice of rejecting tenders on technical grounds, stating it leads to a loss of public funds.
The court reprimanded railway officials for not even considering the financial bid for a Rs 435 crore laundry service contract because some documents weren’t uploaded. This decision came during a hearing on a petition filed by ASG Supreme Laundry Services, which challenged the rejection of its tender application.
The company’s bid was disqualified because it hadn’t uploaded some agreements (MoA, AoA) related to its joint venture partner, Supreme Laundry Service.
Court’s observations
Justice NV Shravan Kumar presided over the case. Senior advocate Venkatesh, representing the petitioner, presented arguments, while Additional Solicitor General B Narasimha Sharma, representing the railways, contended that the tenderer failed to upload the necessary documents by the July 26 deadline.
Sharma argued that accepting the documents later would violate the tender rules. The judge, after hearing both sides, observed that if South Central Railway accepted a higher bid without considering the petitioner’s bid, it would cause a significant loss to the public exchequer.
The judge emphasised the need for a comprehensive investigation into the matter.
The court has ordered the railways to file a counter-affidavit and adjourned the hearing.
