The Delhi high court has refused to stay the High Security Registration Number Plates (HSRNP) tender process in the city after hearing a plea of a city-based private company.
Seeking to put a stay on the tender process which invited various companies to bid for the HSRNP project, T. Eastern Security Technologies Pvt. Ltd had contended that the tender issued by Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd. had many defects which made the tender illegal. It had stated that many important features under Rule 50 of Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 were missing in the tender.
A vacation bench comprising Justices S. Muralidhar and Rajiv Sahai Endlaw refused to put a stay on the HSRNP tender process and declined to rule in favour of the petitioner which sought to quash the Request for Qualification and Proposal for Procurement of Security License Plates in Delhi.
In its petition, the company had cited that one of the security feature — “permanent consecutive identification number” — was not included in the tender process. Senior counsel U.U. Lalit appearing for the company had argued that the new number plates were a permanent feature of the vehicle and if certain security features were missing then the entire exercise of implementing the security plates will be in futility.
The Delhi-based company had also raised question over the validity of the DIMTS, which is a joint venture of the government of national capital territory of Delhi and the Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd in issuing the tender.
Interestingly, the Supreme Court had earlier also dismissed a similar plea of a foreign multinational backed company seeking some changes in the condition laid down in the tender process of the HSRNP.