L&T moves HC against MMRDA’s tender process for projects worth Rs 16, 577 crore linking Thane with Mira Bhayander
After the bench led by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya said that it will hear the pleas on Tuesday (October 8), Advocate General Birendra Saraf for MMRDA assured the HC through a statement that the bids will not be opened till 4: 30 pm on October 8.
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The firm said that it is one of the competent top infrastructure companies in the world with intentional contracts and collecting such data would require at least 30 days. (File Photo)The Larsen and Toubro Limited (L&T) has approached Bombay High Court challenging bidding process of MMRDA pertaining to two projects worth Rs 16, 577 crore.
One project links Thane and Mira Bhayander through a tunnel from Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel junction at Shilphata, and the other is an elevated creek road bridge connecting Bhayander to Ghodbunder Road in Thane.
The lawyers of L&T filed the plea Monday morning seeking urgent relief. The plea claimed that the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) did not contain the geotechnical data for the bridge and the bidders were burdened to collect the said data through an amendment, merely two days before the deadline to submit the tender on October 3, which was later extended to October 7.
The firm said that it is one of the competent top infrastructure companies in the world with intentional contracts and collecting such data would require at least 30 days. It argued that the condition for submission of the bid by October 7 with such a data was ex facie arbitrary and done in haste, therefore, the bids be considered without the provision of such details.
After the bench led by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya said that it will hear the pleas on Tuesday (October 8), Advocate General Birendra Saraf for MMRDA assured the HC through a statement that the bids will not be opened till 4: 30 pm on October 8.
Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Zal Andhyarujina representing L&T argued before a bench of CJ Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar that “it was a case of sudden change in MMRDA’s approach, with the tearing hurry to lessen competition or exclude certain bidders from the process.”
Singhvi added the concerned bridge would be second largest after the present Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) bridge, which is also called as Atal Setu and when the tender process began in July, this year, there was absolutely no hurry in the minds of the tendering authorities.
The firm submitted that no geotechnical data including soil testing for the bridge was contained in NIT issued on September 13, after which on September 23, the petitioner wrote to MMRDA seeking the same. However, Singhvi argued, the said data was not provided, and therefore L&T sought urgent relief in light of the last date for submission of tender being revised to October 7.
Senior advocate Janak Dwarkadas, representing L&T in another petition challenging the tender process pertaining to the bid for the tunnel, said that while it had submitted the bid, it was under protest. He said that for a project of large magnitude, it would be difficult to gather geotechnical data in a short span and that bids should be accepted without such details.
CJ Upadhyaya orally remarked that such a condition of providing the data will be subject to the outcome of the petition.
Saraf submitted that the notice of petition was given to the authorities on Sunday night and therefore he required time to take instructions from authorities to respond to the plea. The HC will hear the plea on Tuesday.
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