MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently directed the Aavin Commissioner to conduct an inquiry into the alleged irregularities in a tender issued by the Tiruchy District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited, for the supply of 1,260T Agro-based fire briquettes for the period 2024-2026.
Justice B Pugalendhi passed the order on a petition filed by R Amutha, the proprietor of a fire briquettes company in Perambalur, who was declared as the successful bidder of the above tender. Amutha sought action against three officials who allegedly made her supply nearly 40T of fire briquettes on an emergent basis without issuing any tender agreement, formal work order, or other connected documents. Since the supply was made during the non-season, the company suffered financial loss due to fluctuating market prices, she claimed.
However, the counsel appearing for the co-operative union denied the allegations, saying the purchase was made through the NCDFI online e-Market platform. Moreover, the above tender was cancelled based on a recommendation made by the tender committee on August 25, 2025, upon finding that Amutha and the second-lowest bidder belonged to the same family and had indulged in collusive bidding to eliminate competition.
Hearing both sides, the judge observed that it is unclear from the records whether the tender agreement was executed and the petitioner made the required security deposit.