HC refuses to stay BSNL tender bid, but decision under scrutiny

New Delhi, Oct 9 (UNI) Refusing to grant a stay on the tender process for the Rs 20,000 crore GSM expansion project, the Delhi High Court today asked the Union Government and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to file their replies for the disqualification of the US telecom major Motorola with reasons.

A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Kailash Gambhir, in their brief order, however, said processing of the bid will be subject to the further order of the court.

Adjourning the matter till November 20, the Court asked the Union Government and the BSNL to file their replies.

In a petition, Motorola, which had tied up with Chinese company ZTE, alleged that the BSNL had deliberately omitted the company from the financial bid on October 7 after accepting its tender terms since it was notified on March 22, 2006.

After opening the financial bids on October 7, Swedish telecom major Ericsson has emerged as the lowest bidder followed by Finnish telecom giant Nokia for the 45.5 million line tender, based on third generation (3G) GSM telephony technology.

The petitioner has not been formally informed about the rejection from the participation and Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens had been invited to participate in the financial bid opening scheduled for today (Octoner 9), said the petition filed by Counsel Ciccu Mukhopadhaya for Motorola.

If the BSNL's decision remained the same after due evaluation, Ericsson would bag the contract for supplying 60 per cent of the equipment, while Nokia would get the remaining 40 per cent at the price quoted by the former company.

UNI PAT VD HS1929