The Supreme Court has refused interim relief to Mumbai-based KEC International Ltd that had approached the apex court to restrain BSNL from awarding a Rs 8,000-crore contract for commissioning of mobile infrastructure to Haryana-based ACME Telepower Ltd.
A Bench headed by Justice Altamas Kabir while refusing to grant exparte stay of the high court order has posted the matter for hearing on October 26.
Challenging the Calcutta High Court’s impugned judgment that upheld BSNL’s decision to award tender to Haryana-based ACME, KEC said that the state-owned telecom service provider’s decision declaring ACME as the lowest bidder was arbitrary and unreasonable and contrary to the express terms of the tender documents.
It said that it was an “erroneous” decision as BSNL had allowed ACME to revise bid to cure around 50 discrepancies.
Unless interim relief was granted, BSNL would wrongfully enter into a contract with ACME to the detriment of the petitioner whose financial bid was found to be the lowest at the time of opening of the bid, the petition stated.
According to KEC, since the difference between ACME’s bid and its own was only Rs 65 crore (0.7 per cent), justice required to take a holistic assessment based on considerations like previous experience, financial capacity, etc.
{{/usCountry}}According to KEC, since the difference between ACME’s bid and its own was only Rs 65 crore (0.7 per cent), justice required to take a holistic assessment based on considerations like previous experience, financial capacity, etc.
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