Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, June 15: High Court today dismissed the plea of a contract company challenging the cancellation of NIT and subsequent allotment of same to other company for procurement of Dental and other Machinery Equipment to the hospitals.
Petitioner Company was aggrieved of the cancellation of NIT for the procurement of “Dental Machinery Equipments” by J&K Medical Supplies Corporation Ltd (JKMSCL) and subsequent allotment of the dental machinery and equipment in favour of other contract-company and challenges the same in the instant petition with further relief of directing the officials not to accept the supply of dental chairs and equipment from the selected company and not to make any payment in his favour.
The officials submitted before the court that they had initiated a tender process, which did not culminate into an agreement in between the aggrieved contractor and the authorities, as such, no right flows from the said process, which would warrant any judicial review or implementation of the NIT or its terms and conditions rather once the offer to respond to the NIT has been cancelled, no further relationship of any, sort exists or continues or gets created.
Court has been apprised that in order to meet exigency for procurement of dental chairs decided in a High Level Meeting, wherein it was resolved that assessment be made from various Medical Supplies Corporations of other states as to how and on what basis they are procuring the said material but on lowest price and the Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation Limited has been empowered to purchase all machinery equipment, medicine, etc., for use in the Government Hospitals and Dispensaries, Government Medical/Dental Colleges.
The said supply is made for Medical and Dental Colleges as well as all the Hospitals in the rural and urban areas, which are under the administrative control of Director Health Services, Kashmir/Jammu and Principals of Government Medical/Dental Colleges.
“It was essential to have the dental chairs at earliest, as the same were sought to be procured but were not able to procure the same, for one or the other reasons, as such, in order to overcome the delay and consequential crisis, a policy decision was taken by the official for procuring the dental chairs at lowest rates, which cannot be subject matter of writ petition, as the policy decision for public purpose is always immune from judicial review, unless the same violates any of the fundamental rights of a citizen”, reads the judgment.
Court said, it is choice of the department to choose how best an item required can be procured, wherein competition can be developed, as petitioner-company has no right to have a contract for supply of the dental chairs more particularly in view of delaying tactics as well as acceptance of the sample after cancellation of the NIT.
“The process of conclusion of the contract was not possible, that is why the decision of cancellation was taken, but at the same time the requirement of availability of the dental chairs are not being manufactured in the of Jammu and Kashmir, was required to supply that is why a competition between already suppliers/ manufacturers was invoked as that was a proven attempt by them as accepted by other states of the country”, Court said.
Court clarified that the cancellation of NIT and the subsequent allotment of the dental chairs though challenged, but no interim order was passed by the Court, therefore, the contract, court said, which has come in existence between the officials and the supplier company, had become final.
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