Will extend bid submission deadline to L&T and others for projects linking Thane with Mira Bhayander by 60 days: MMRDA to Bombay HC

Responding to the pleas by Larsen and Toubro Limited (L&T) challenging the tendering process, the MMRDA stated that during the 60-day extended period, the petitioner and different bidders whitethorn taxable revised bids aft carrying retired geotechnical investigations oregon surveys connected their own.

In the airy of MMRDA’s statement, the L&T withdrew its petitions, which had claimed that determination was undue haste successful the bid deadline without providing geo-technological data, owed to codification of behaviour for the upcoming Assembly elections successful Maharashtra.

A part seat of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar was proceeding 2 pleas by L&T, which claimed that the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) did not incorporate the geotechnical information for the span and the bidders were burdened to cod the said information successful abbreviated period.

The steadfast said that collecting specified information connected its ain would necessitate astatine slightest 30-60 days. It argued that the information for submission of the bid by October 7 with specified a information was ex facie arbitrary.

In the pre-lunch league connected Monday, elder advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Zal Andhyarujina for L&T argued that the deferment of the tendering process for the span to alteration the bidders to transportation retired geotechnical probe volition assistance the nationalist involvement and determination volition beryllium nary adverse interaction owed to the same.

“The NIT is bereft of method information. It is simply a substance of large nationalist safety, which cannot beryllium endangered due to the fact that idiosyncratic successful a pedantic and sterile mode wants to instrumentality to schedule, What if this tender is done a fewer weeks later? There volition beryllium much method information and it enhances contention and allows firms to bid based connected due information,” Singhvi submitted, seeking postponement of the bid.

Senior advocator Janak Dwarkadas, representing L&T successful different petition challenging the tender process pertaining to the bid for the tunnel, pointed retired that the authorization had initially communicated to bidders of providing the data. However, aboriginal it burdened the bidders to cod the said information done an amendment, simply 2 days earlier the deadline to taxable the tender connected October 3, which was aboriginal extended to October 7.

Chief Justice Upadhyaya remarked, “In a task specified arsenic this, information of soil, bore, determination of bore holes are precise important inheritance information, based connected which the tenderer would bid. Unless and until you supply this information, could the bidder undertake the project? It appears that you could not possibly behaviour the geotechnical probe. What was the hurry to enactment it connected bidders to implicit it wrong a abbreviated time?”

Dwarkadas responded, “It is the codification of behaviour that was bothering the authority, causing undue haste.”

The seat besides said that determination was nary rationale successful the authority’s determination to retreat the clause for the proviso information and it deprived the bidders from the same.

In a post-lunch session, aft Advocate General Birendra Saraf connected instructions from the authorization made a connection to widen the bid submission play by 60 days, the L&T sought to retreat the pleas, which the seat allowed.