Writ raises serious concerns about integrity of process
PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has directed the Block Development Officer, Mapusa, Bardez, to decide on a complaint regarding the alleged illegal tender process conducted by the Village Panchayat of Candolim within four weeks.
A writ petition filed by Agnelo Joao Sequeira raised serious concerns about the integrity of the process alleging the bidders were not allowed inside the office during the tender opening.
In the petition heard by the Division Bench of Justice Bharati Dangre and Nivedita Mehta, Sequeira stated the Village Panchayat of Candolim published four tenders for operating vehicle parking and collecting garbage under the Swachh Bharat Mission of the Central government. The tenders included parking facilities at Car Park, Morod Vaddo in Candolim and Sinquerim Hill near St Lawrence Church.
Sequeira alleged procedural lapses, claiming that the process was conducted behind closed doors.
“The Panchayat opened the tenders but none of the bidders including the petitioner were allowed inside the office, during the tender opening process which was carried out behind closed doors, raising serious doubts about its fairness and integrity. After a short point of time, the successful bidders were declared, however, no details were offered which constrained the petitioner to seek information under the Right to Information Act,” the petitions stated seeking the High Court to declare the tender process illegal and arbitrary.
While the Panchayat awarded one of the tenders to the highest bidder, Sequeira was offered the contract for Sinquerim Hill after the first bidder failed to meet compliance requirements.
The petitioner submitted to the Court that he would fulfill all necessary obligations for the awarded contract while seeking an inquiry by the Block Development Officer into the alleged non-transparency of the other tender.
The Court thereafter asked the BDO to decide on the issue within four weeks. “We expect the concerned authority to take a decision upon the said representation within a period of 4 weeks from today… since the petitioner has now been declared as a successful bidder in one of the tenders and since he wants to prosecute the complaint which he has already filed before the Block Development Officer to review the non-transparency in opening of the second tender, we dispose of the writ petition,” the Bench ordered.
