102 Ambulance contract row: Losing bidders file contempt plea in Patna HC against state govt

The petitioner, one of the four bidders for the ‘102 ambulance’ contract, had told the court that the State Health Society Bihar (SHSB) under the state government’s Health department had “overreached and violated” the April 26, 2023 high court order, asking the state government to give work order to lowest bidder in present arrangement whereas the government applied the court order for awarding the fresh tender to PDPL on May 31, 2023.

The Indian Express on June 21 carried a report on how the state government had ignored the remarks by the Patna High Court, violated tender norms and ignored a series of audits flagging irregularities — from missing oxygen to expired medicines — in the face of allegations of “document leaks” and “tweaks,” and awarded the ‘102 ambulance’ services’ contract to PDPL for five years.

Advocate for BVG India Private Limited and Samman Foundation, Nirbhay Prashant, told The Indian Express: “We have filed the contempt petition against the state government following its June 24 order giving us liberty to file the contempt case”.

The petition says: “Acting against court order of 26 April 2023 by Justice PB Bajanthri and Justice Arun Kumar Jha for allowing the lowest bidder to execute the work order, the respondent authorities (the state government) have made final decision and have entered into an agreement for five years on 31 May 2023 by overreaching the court order of 26 April in which the court had only modified the order of 8 December 2022 to the extent of allowing the lowest bid to execute the work and not allowed the respondent authorities to take the final decision in context of the tender in question.”