Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court directed the public health engineering department (PHED) to cancel a tender linked to a Jal Jeevan Mission project in Dholpur water tender and directed the state to open Hyderabad-based GVPR Engineering Ltd’s financial bid.Justice Bipin Gupta held that GVPR fulfilled the eligibility criteria and was a responsive bidder. The court directed that if the company is found to be the lowest and satisfies other conditions, the govt must proceed in accordance with the law and award the contract. PHED declared GVPR’s bid non-responsive.The court noted in its order that accepting GVPR’s bid could have saved Rs 211 crore.“The court has not directly stated that the tender will be awarded to the petitioner. However, being the lowest bidder, now the department must award the tender to the petitioner. We challenged the process of the department declaring the bid as non-responsive. The court stated that the petitioner is held to have fulfilled the prescribed eligibility criteria and is declared to be a responsive bidder,” stated Adhiraj Modi, one of the advocates for the petitioner.Four agencies participated in the tender, floated in Sept-Oct 2023, for pipeline works from the Chambal River intake to villages in Dholpur and Saipau blocks. The project cost was estimated at Rs 1,284.3 crore. GVPR quoted Rs 1,226.5 crore, but PHED awarded the work to another firm for Rs 1,438.3 crore.“Most important, on Oct 16, 2024, during proceedings, this court directed that all further actions, including the issuance of the Letter of Intent, shall remain subject to the outcome of the present writ petition. Yet, PHED continued to carry out the project and has also made some payments to the awarded firm,” stated Modi.The ruling lands amid widening probes into alleged JJM irregularities. “We don’t think the govt would challenge this order. This will make the situation worse if the court then orders a probe into the actions of engineers. Instead, the govt shall order an inquiry now,” stated a PHED officer.The tender in-charge of this project was later nabbed by ACB for an Rs 8 lakh bribe, was controversially promoted to chief engineer during investigation. He now remains under suspension.
