HC declines to halt govt tender, rejects Sushee Infra’s plea | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: Telangana high court on Thursday declined to interfere with a single judge’s refusal to grant interim relief to Sushee Infra and Mining Limited, which challenged the rejection of its technical bid in a govt tender. The court underscored that tender processes cannot be stalled merely because a writ petition challenging the process is pending.A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice P Sam Koshy and Justice Suddala Chalapathi Rao found no infirmity in the single judge’s order and held that there was no ground for appellate interference. Taking note of the significance of the govt’s three-package project, the bench refused to halt the tender process at this stage.Appearing for the company, the counsel argued that the technical bid had been rejected solely because an experience certificate was not countersigned by the competent authority. He contended that the tender conditions provided a seven-day window for authorities to seek clarifications, but no such opportunity was given to the company.The appellant also alleged procedural irregularities, claiming that price bids were opened within minutes of the completion of technical evaluations, effectively denying it an opportunity to raise objections.Arguing that the public interest would be affected, the counsel pointed to a difference of more than ₹600 crore between Sushee Infra’s bid and the successful bidder’s quote, contending that acceptance of the higher bid would impose a substantial burden on the public exchequer.Citing alleged mala fides in the process, he sought interim protection, arguing that any eventual success in the main petition would become meaningless if agreements were executed in the meantime.However, the division bench was not persuaded to intervene and left it open for the issues to be examined in the main case.The writ petition is scheduled to come up before the single judge on Oct 29.