Shimla Aug 4
Himachal Pradesh High court has stayed all further proceedings e-tendering for Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital and associated hospital canteens passing an order against the authorities.
A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua passed these orders on a writ petition filed by one Yadupati Thakur on Tuesday copy of which was released to the media on today.
The petitioner has challenged alleged e-tendering process to run a patient canteen at IGMC Hospital, Shimla which was earlier run by the Rogi Kalyan Samiti(RKS )
The petitioner said that respondent hospital authorities decided to outsource the said canteen, thereby putting burden on public exchequer. He has alleged that e-tenders were floated on July 20, 2020 to outsource the canteen in an inappropriate and illegal manner by ignoring the requisite terms and conditions.
He has also alleged that necessary approval of the government before finalization of the tender was not taken and moreover the firm to whom the tender has been awarded is not eligible as per the tender document, as the same has been blacklisted by one of the office of Government of India, i.e the Indian Institute of Advance Studies. He has alleged that the whole tender process smells malafide intentions of the respondent authorities.
The court observed that prima facie, entire tendering process is erroneous as the tender is not called for any specified volume of business, whereas it is stated in the tender document, that the tenderer should assess the volume of business himself by visiting the hospital under intimation to hospital authorities.
The Court said that the tender should always be called for a specific purpose for a specific quantity and it cannot be left to the discretion of the tenderer. The Court further observed that as per record, the approval of the Government has been
taken after the finalization of the tender and hence, the Court is of the view that calling for the tender and proceeding further, may not be in accordance with law. The Court posted the matter after two weeks.
