The pitiable condition of Tening-Lekie Road is seen in this photo taken in February 2022. A bidding row had stalled a project to construct the 37.5 km inter-state road by over two years. (Morung File Photo)
.jpg)
A dispute that attracted a PIL and funding agency contemplated recall of advance
Imkong Walling
Dimapur | March 20
It was sometime in mid-2019 when a glimmer of hope dawned in Peren district’s Nsong area with the announcement of a road development package for Nagaland. Included in the list of projects was the Tening-Lekie Road— a 37.5 km inter-state road that has been virtually out of the Nagaland state government’s radar for decades. It came via the DoNER Ministry’s Northeast Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS).
But something happened during the bidding process, sending the road project into a state of suspended animation for over two years. There was allegation of flouting of bidding guidelines, the claims eventually landing in court.
The dispute pitted the Nagaland state government, together with, a private construction firm (Naagaami Infratech) against a joint venture (JV), comprising Hi-Tech Construction & Co, Vertex Construction and ANK Construction.
The project at stake was worth Rs 136.96cr. The first installment amounting to Rs 54.78cr was sanctioned and released to the Nagaland PWD in August 2019, as per information available on the North Eastern Council website.
As reckoned from court papers, the project saw the PWD issuing two tender notices, also known as Notice Inviting Tender (NIT). It seemed to be just the right recipe for dispute, setting the trail for what was to be a protracted court battle, while the road condition got worse. In 2021, the people of the area, where the road goes through, even crowd-sourced funds to temporarily patch up the road on two occasions.
As it unfolded, it saw a flurry of claims and refutations and appeals in the courtroom over the next two years. The JV first moved court, petitioning the Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court in October, 2019. The JV’s contention was that it was not awarded the contract despite making the lowest bid. It also claimed that it was not issued the ‘Letter of Acceptance’ (LOA) by the state government within the 75-day period as dictated by the guidelines. This was before the first NIT was cancelled.
It filed a second petition when the first NIT was annulled, contending that the tendering authority (PWD/state government) cancelled it when the matter was sub-judice.
The tendering authority defended the cancellation stating that it was done on grounds that the bidders uploaded/submitted incomplete/irregular information during the application process.
Meanwhile, in the second bidding process, the work went to Naagaami Infratech — the private respondent – with the LOA issued on March 16, 2020. More claims and refutations ensued.
As the dispute dragged on, the sponsoring agency contemplated the recall of the advance released for the project, while it attracted a Public Interest Litigation. The court, in a ruling passed on December 15, 2021 noted, “There is a PIL filed in connection to this road project, at the same time, the NEC has expressed its desire to withdraw the advance money sanctioned for the project since it was not utilized in the stipulated time. The same issue came up before this Court, however, the prayer was not allowed in public interest. There is urgency and public interest in the matter.”
According to official court records, it was the first major ruling in the case, via which the government was directed to issue the LOA to the petitioners who made the lowest bid in the first NIT.
This was challenged at the Division Bench. On February 8, 2022, the Division Bench, while setting aside the December 15 ruling, upheld the cancellation of the first NIT, noting that it was “done in accordance with the law.” It re-forwarded the case to the Single-judge, Kohima Bench with a directive to expedite the arbitration, “Since the matter has already taken more than two years, we request the learned Single Judge to dispose of the matter as early as possible after hearing the matter on a daily basis, if possible.”
As per the latest ruling delivered on March 16, the court upheld the issuing of the work to Naagaami Infratech, while it dismissed the claims of the petitioners as “devoid of any merits.”
