Chandigarh | January 4, 2016: Acting on a petition against the award of a contract for mining minor minerals in the Tosham area of Bhiwani district, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that the bids may be evaluated but “the work order shall not be given till further orders”.
The Bench of Acting Chief Justice Shiavax Jal Vazifdar and Justice Tejinder Singh Dhindsa also issued notice of motion to Haryana and another respondent for January 19 on the petition filed by Jaswinder Singh Bal through senior advocate Rajesh Garg and Nimrata Shergill.
The petitioner was seeking the quashing of a tender notice dated September 22 last year. The court was told that the petitioner came across the tender notice by which the HSIIDC was seeking to further delegate the right of mining to private parties.
Counsel claimed: “The petition highlighted arbitrariness as well as legal malice by which State largesse was being sought to be handed over for private personal gains”. Going into the background, it was contended Haryana recognised the fact that the mining of stone would require specialized knowledge as it involved use of explosives, drilling and blasting.
In November, 2013, while undertaking auction of certain quarry areas, the state government offered to grant lease to the HSIIDC, which it accepted. The court held that the state had the power to reserve areas for undertaking mining through its corporation. The court also directed the state to seek prior approval of the Central Government for reservation of the area.
Counsel added the tender notice to further delegate the right of mining to private parties was nothing but an attempt by the state government to use the reservation route to benefit a private player. The tender notice issued by the HSIIDC was annexed along with the petition.
The counsel added a perusal of the tender conditions clearly showed that the HSIIDC was merely a rubber stamp as no mining or any other activity was being under taken by it. “On the contrary, the entire work would be outsourced to a private person and cost will be paid to such person”.
(Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com/)