The Gujarat Excessive Courtroom on Thursday ordered Principal Secretary (City Growth and City Housing) Ashwani Kumar to represent an inquiry committee to look into the function and duty of the Vadodara Municipal Company (VMC) commissioner in 2015-2016, when the particular person was “instrumental” in awarding a contract “illegally” to Kotia Initiatives for the redevelopment of Harni lake within the metropolis.
The course got here from the division bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha Mayee, who had been listening to a suo motu public curiosity litigation in connection to the demise of 12 college students and two lecturers after a ship capsized in Harni lake on January 18 throughout a faculty picnic.
The inquiry is anticipated to be accomplished inside two months. The HC directed the federal government to put the inquiry report earlier than it by the subsequent date of listening to, scheduled in June.
The HC issued the course after going by way of municipal company data, bringing the bench to an “irresistible conclusion that the process prescribed by legislation for award of a public contract has been given an entire go-by whereas granting contract in favour of Kotia Initiatives (the agency that redeveloped the lake)”.
“From the flip of occasions introduced on document… within the matter of grant of contract, it’s evident that the then municipal commissioner is chargeable for granting contract illegally in favour of Kotia Initiatives. Nonetheless, this opinion expressed by us be handled as a prima facie opinion to conduct an inquiry in opposition to then municipal commissioner of VMC as additionally different officers whosoever they might be,” the court docket famous.
As per the incumbency chart of civic chiefs on the VMC web site, H S Patel was the municipal commissioner from February 25, 2015 to June 23, 2016, when the proposal of redevelopment of lakes was initiated. He was succeeded by Dr Vinod Rao, who held the put up from June 24, 2016 to July 17, 2018, when the contract was lastly awarded to Kotia Initiatives.
The HC famous that on September 15, 2015, a proposal was submitted by then VMC commissioner to the standing committee looking for that the commissioner be authorised to take steps for improvement of lakes and areas surrounding them on a public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
The proposal, nevertheless, was not permitted by the standing committee on the time and over every week later, on September 23, 2015, the commissioner himself gave in-principle approval – each administrative and technical sanction – for issuing ads in newspapers to ask expression of curiosity (EOI) to develop Harni lake on PPP mode.
Following this, two bids had been obtained – from Kotia Initiatives and Almac India Vadodara – by October 15, 2015. Nonetheless, within the bid submitted by Kotia Initiatives, within the column of monetary turnover, there was “nil” entry, as the corporate was a brand new entity, established the exact same month on October 5, 2015. Notably, the corporate submitted its bid in response to the EOI additionally on October 5, 2015.
The court docket on Thursday famous that the brand new entity of Kotia Initiatives was established solely “after the venture was conceived by then municipal commissioner by granting approval in precept to himself to go forward to develop the lake by way of PPP mode when there was no approval of the standing committee for the venture”.
“With this reality, we might document our sturdy suspicion of the style by which the EOI was submitted by a brand new entity, established after the venture was conceived. This side itself requires inquiry into the style by which the whole venture was conceived by then municipal commissioner,” the court docket order mentioned.
The HC recorded that each bidders had been rejected on the time, as they didn’t have the required monetary capability. Additionally, Kotia Initiatives, being a brand new entity, additionally didn’t have work expertise, which was required underneath the bid.
Regardless of the rejection of each bids, no public tender was floated at that time of time. As a substitute EOIs had been printed a second time in December 2015, following which, Kotia Initiatives submitted its bid a second time on December 27, 2015. The opposite bidder this time was Mangalam Building Firm.
By January 8, 2016, each bidders had certified for additional consideration and subsequently, Kotia Initiatives was awarded the contract by means of approval from the VMC standing committee after which by the overall board by means of resolutions in September 2016. Rao was the VMC commissioner then. Work order was lastly issued to Kotia Initiatives in February 2017.
The HC court docket noticed that “it’s not comprehensible how Kotia Initiatives certified for the bid inside two months”, in December 2015, when it was disqualified in October 2015, noticing that its monetary turnover was nil and it was a brand new entity established on October 5, 2015.