CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has temporarily stayed the tender floated by the Tamil Nadu Livestock Development Corporation for procuring adjustable reflective collars, implantable radio frequency identification microchips and microchip reader to be supplied to the Animal Birth Control Centres in the state.
Justice N Sathish Kumar granted the interim stay recently while hearing a petition filed by Exhilar Innovative Solutions, one of the two firms in the bid, against the tender awarded to Sri Durga Medical Solutions for the supply of the items.
The petitioner company submitted it had emerged as L1 in the first tender floated on August 22 and Sri Durga Medical Solutions was declared ineligible as it could not fulfil the conditions of technical tender. However, the tender was cancelled citing administrative reasons and a re-tender was floated, in which, Sri Durga Medical Solutions emerged L1.
The judge observed the documents of Sri Durga Medical Solutions were rejected by the scrutiny committee on the earlier occasion but within two months from the erstwhile tender, the same documents had been taken into consideration.
“This prima facie indicates that only in order to reject the petitioner somehow or the other and take away the rights as L1, the documents of the second respondent (Sri Durga) have been considered. Now, it has been declared L1,” the bench said.
Holding that the petitioner, therefore has made out a prima facie case in its favour, the judge issued the interim stay on further proceedings in relation to the impugned tender.
Issuing notice to the respondents, he adjourned the hearing to December 18.