India News | Centre Moves Supreme Court Against Delhi HC Order Quashing CPV Tender Process; Hearing on Monday
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Union Government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court's judgment setting aside the tender awarded to private firms for outsourcing Consular, Passport and Visa (CPV) services at Indian Missions in Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kuwait, Singapore and Canberra (Australia).
New Delhi [India], July 17 (ANI): The Union Government has moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Delhi High Court's judgement setting aside the tender awarded to private firms for outsourcing Consular, Passport and Visa (CPV) services at Indian Missions in Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kuwait, Singapore and Canberra (Australia).
The Delhi High Court had quashed the tender process and directed the Centre to issue fresh Requests for Proposal (RFPs) within one month by inviting fresh bids for all four Missions.
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The matter was mentioned on Friday before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union of India and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Accepting the request for urgent listing, the Bench agreed to hear the matter on Monday.
In its July 15 judgement, the Delhi High Court held that the technical evaluation process adopted by the MEA suffered from arbitrariness, irrationality and lack of transparency.
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It observed that the authorities had failed to record and communicate reasons for awarding marks and rejecting bidders at the technical stage.
A Division Bench of Justice Anil Kshetrapal and Justice Shail Jain consequently set aside the technical evaluation as well as the award of the tenders in favour of the successful private firms.
However, to ensure continuity of consular services, the court allowed the existing service providers to continue until the fresh tender process is completed and new bidders are selected in accordance with law.
The High Court's judgement came on petitions filed by E Trav Tech Limited and Verasys Limited, which challenged their technical disqualification from the tender process for outsourcing CPV services at the four Indian missions.
The petitioners alleged that despite being awarded parameter-wise marks, no reasons were disclosed for the deductions or their disqualification. (ANI)
(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)