The Eligibility of Bidder is under Dispute
Mumbai, 23rd July 22 : It is ‘Maharashtra Varta‘ which first time unearthed the scam of Rs. 693 Crores project of upgradation of Port Trust Hospital during the tenure of Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, IAS who was the then Chairman of Mumbai Port Trust and instrumental for awarding the contract to M/s Ajeenkya DY Patil Infrastructure Private Limited disregarding the eligibility criteria for qualification for participation in the tender process.
Consequently, two major trade unions operating in the port trust opened the crusade against the unfair dealings in the project that was detrimental to the interest of the port trust and its thousands of employees as well as pensioners. These unions made representations to the Prime Minister of India and constantly followed up the matter with the Central Government. Finally, Mr. Rajiv Jalota, IAS, the present Chairman of Mumbai Port Trust/Authority by his letter dated 30th May, 2022 requested the Central Government to constitute the high level committee to examine the matter in response of which the Central Government by its Office Memorandum dated 14th July, 2022 has constituted the five members committee headed by Mr. Sanjay Bandopadhyaya, the Chairman of Inland Waterways Authority of India to examine the financial capacity of the Special Purpose Vehicle company, M/s Zodiac Healotronics Private Limited, called as a Concessionaire, and floated by the bidder, for the implementation of the project of Rs. 693 crores.
https://www.maharashtravarta.com/mbpt-scam/
The project could not move an inch forward for the reasons that the bidder was not technically and financially qualified for participation in the tender proceedings, the officers concerned including Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, the then Chairman of Mumbai Port Trust and Dr. A. Annadurai, Chief Medical Officer allegedly favoured the bidder for extraneous consideration to bag the contract for the said project, the terms and conditions of the Concession Agreement dated 03.10.2019 signed between the Concessionaire and Mumbai Port Trust have not been complied with by the Concessionaire and the said Concessionaire has been allegedly influencing various authorities and persons to concede to its demand for giving to it Mumbai Port Trust’s Ten Acre land worth more than Rs. 1200 crores for the project as against bidder’s mere investment of nearly Rs. 228.88 cores for the project.
Ironically, M/s BDO India LLP, a third party financial institution appointed earlier at the behest of the Ministry for assessing the feasibility of the project by the Concessionaire pointed out number of deficiencies in the documents submitted by the bidder and concessionaire indicative of its lack of financial capacity. However, the Ministry of Shipping has constituted the High Level Committee for suggesting way forward instead of suggesting the Port Trust/Authority to disqualify the bidder and the Concessionaire and to invite fresh tenders for the upgradation of Port Trust Hospital. Other members of the Committee are the Additional Secretary & Financial Adviser, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, the Chairperson of Shyama Prasad Mukharjee Port Authority, the Deputy Chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority and the Chief Vigilance Officer of Cochin Shipyard Limited. This Committee is required to submit its report within three weeks and make a presentation before the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
https://www.maharashtravarta.com/writ-mbpt/
Incidentally, the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court in the order dated 27 July 2022 passed in Writ Petition (L) No. 14657 of 2022 (Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Limited vs. Board of Trustees of Jawaharlal Nehru Port and others) has been pleased to discuss number of issues as to the disqualification of the bidder and power to be exercised by the Board to disqualify the bidder which was ineligible to participate in the tender process as per the relevant clauses of Request for Qualification (RFQ), which laid down eligibility criteria and also preserved the right to disqualify the bidder even before signing the concession agreement or after its execution and during the period of subsistence thereof. According to Advocate Mr. Jaiprakash Sawant, the said 48 pages judgment and order of Bombay High Court need to be closely studied and followed by the High Leval Committee to avoid the hollowness in its report.
Mr. Kersi Parekh, General Secretary of Transport, and Dock Workers Union and Mr. Sudhakar Apraj, General Secretary of Mumbai Port Trust, Dock and General Employees Union have submitted the representations before the High level Committee stating, among others, that:
(a) Mumbai Port Trust/Authority has to reject the Financial Close submitted by the Concessionaire actually for Rs. 288.88 Crores as against the total project cost at Rs. 693 Crores and to terminate the Concession Agreement dated 3rd October 2019 forthwith.
(b) The single bidder, M/s Ajeenkya DY Patil Infrastructure Private Limited was not at all eligible for RPF-Bid Document dated 15th October 2018 as it had no Technical capacity as well as Financial capacity as stipulated in clause 2.2.2 of the RFP-Bid Document dated 15 October 2018 based on the Office Memorandum dated 12th October 2018.
(c) Neither Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth Deemed University Trust as claimed by Dr. Ajeenkya D Y Patil in the document related to the Resolution nor Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil University as stated in Annex.II and Annex.III of the Bid Document can be “Associate” of the Bidder in order to fetch their credentials.
(d) M/s Zodiac Healotronics Private Limited has been wrongfully considered by Mumbai Port Trust as a Concessionaire.
(e) Numbers of misdeeds have been committed by the Concessionaire, M/s Zodiac Healotronics Private Limited.
(f) There are number of valid and compelling reasons for termination of the Concession Agreement and to recover damages from the Bidder and the Concessionaire.
(g) The manner in reduction or change in total project cost, the mode of infusion of funds, the financial close, financial model, debt-equity ratio, parameters of equity, equipment lease model are some of the major deviations from the terms and conditions incorporated in the RFP Bid Document which cannot be permitted under the guise of ‘way forward” or ‘risk mitigating measures’, the newly introduced concepts unheard in commercial contracts. One should not give any bad element a ‘way’ to move ‘forward’ surreptitiously.
The Writ Petition No. 1548 of 2022 filed by these two unions through Advocate Mr. Jaiprakash Sawant praying the High Court (i) To quash and set aside the entire tender proceedings related to the project contained in the Bid Document dated 15th October 2018, (ii) Directions for not to proceed with the matter in relation to the project, (iii) Directions to invite fresh tender for upgradation of the Hospital for better health care services to its employees and pensioners, (iv) Directions for not to take any action that may be in deviation of the terms and conditions stipulated in the Concession Agreement dated 3rd October 2019 and (vi) Directions to advise the University Grant Commission(UGC) to take necessary action against the Bidder for its violation of the provisions of the law etc. is likely to be listed for orders soon. This would be a classic case of corrupt practices and the failures in the implementation of Public Private Partnership(PPP) Projects in the Government organizations. Maharashtra Varta has been closely watching and monitoring the situation right from the beginning to ensure that the policy of ‘good and transparent governance’ would prevail over on due diligence and appropriate movements by the citizens and strong trade unions.
https://www.maharashtravarta.com/mbpt/
