Sub-contract of work a security concern: SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday objected to loopholes in the implementation of High Security Registration Plates scheme in the Capital under the aegis of Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System,saying the process gives ample room for security concerns.

The Supreme Court on Thursday objected to loopholes in the implementation of High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) scheme in the Capital under the aegis of Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System (DIMTS),saying the process gives ample room for security concerns.

DIMTS is a special purpose vehicle constituted by the government for overseeing transport in Delhi.

A three-judge bench,headed by Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia,in a judicial order,raised the alarm after it found that draft agreements on the scheme permits HSRP supplier company to sub-contract work to others,raising concerns of security breach,thereby defeating the purpose for which the scheme has been envisaged.

It is stipulated in the draft agreement that the supplier of the plate shall notify the purchaser in writing of all sub-contracts awarded under the contract. We make it clear that neither Rule 50 of the Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 and Motor Vehicles (New High Security Registration Plates) Order,2011,nor the judgments of this court permit sub-contracts to be awarded by the contractor, read the order passed by Justice Swatanter Kumar for the bench.

The court has also found that DIMTS has reserved the power to select more than one vendor for the project.

It is a mandatory requirement that one person should exclusively be responsible for the entire process in the interest of security. Thus,we make it clear that… (firstly,there must be) a single contractor and secondly,it should be under the direct supervision and control of DIMTS, held the bench,also comprising Justice A K Patnaik.

The court said DIMTS should not let sub-contractors or other parties control the manufacturing processing and fixation of HSRP.

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The Delhi government has not implemented the scheme,in fact,the contracts have not been awarded yet despite several orders from the apex court.

The tenders for award of work for manufacture and fixation of HSRP were opened on June 23 this year. The financial bids were opened on June 28,and a bidder was finalised.

According to Delhi government,the rate schedule for the plates were also finalised by the Chief Secretary.

However,it remains to be accepted by DIMTS, the apex court said.

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The Supreme Court has extended the deadline for implementation of the scheme in Delhi to December 31.

The court also took exception to how majority of state governments have not fully implemented the HSRP scheme yet.

It has given four weeks time to transport secretaries/commissioners of various states to file compliance reports.

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