The Delhi High Court on Monday cleared the decks for the DDA to begin construction of around 36,800 flats in the capital over the next five years. The HC held that it was not mandatory for an authority to award a contract to the lowest or highest bidder. The DDA, the court said, had the option of awarding the tender to some other party, thereby allowing the development agency to start the tender process for its flats.
‘‘Usually, the lowest bidder or the highest bidder, as the case may be, is awarded the contract. But this is not an absolute rule and the governmental authority can deviate from this and award the contract to someone other than the lowest or highest bidder,’’ a bench comprising justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Veena Birbal said. The bench, however, stressed that the government should ensure that its decision is not arbitrary and fanciful.
The decision came on a petition filed by a company seeking direction to DDA to award them the contract for construction of 36,800 multi-storeyed houses in Narela, Rohini, Dwarka or any other suitable place in Delhi in the next five years. The firm had offered bids in response to a tender published by the civic body in 2007. After several rounds of meetings between the civic body and various bidders, the DDA decided in 2009 not to award the contract to any of them. The firm approached the court alleging that the decision of the body was arbitrary as no reason was assigned for rejecting their offer.
