Plea for inquiry into hospital tender rejected

CHENNAI: The first bench of the Madras High Court has rejected a plea for an enquiry into the installation of medical gas supply system at Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai. In his PIL, R Nirmal Kumar of Madurai, after making various allegations against the erection of the system, sought a detailed enquiry.

The petitioner alleged that the ongoing installation of the system in the hospital has been carried out in violation of prescribed standards. “Unfortunately, there is not a whisper of the exact standards, which are prescribed, but not being adhered to,”the bench pointed out.

Dismissing the PIL, the bench said it was also alleged that the person to whom the tender has been awarded was a close relative of an Assistant Engineer (AE) in the local PWD and that the AE had influenced the decision to award the tender. The AE concerned had not been named and there was no indication of what the relationship was between him and the tender awardee. It was also not clear, whether the AE had any role in the process of consideration of the tender, the bench said.

The petitioner’s representation was hopelessly devoid of material particulars. The allegation that the work of installation was being carried out in haste and in an ignorant manner not following the standards prescribed, was totally vague. The allegation that there were no technically qualified persons for monitoring or fixing the pipelines or monitoring the gas supply, was also devoid of particulars, the bench added.x