Setback for GTA in roads case - High court vacates stay on state govt tender process to lay roads in Darjeeling Calcutta, Sept. 15: Justice Nadira Patherhya of Calcutta High Court today vacated the stay she had imposed, restraining the state from proceeding with the tender process for laying of three roads in Darjeeling hills. After today’s order, the north Bengal development department would have the liberty to allow the construction companies to continue their work. Told about the outcome of the case, P.T. Ola, a GTA member, said the hill body will “definitely be appealing at a higher forum”. He said the larger issue was the “transgression” of the state in the GTA’s work. Earlier, the court had issued the interim order on a plea by the GTA, claiming the tender process had violated the provisions of the GTA Act. The chief executive of GTA, Bimal Gurung, is the petitioner in the case. On September 9, lawyer Ayanava Raha, appearing on behalf of Gurung, told the court that the north Bengal development department had floated the tenders when it had no authority to do so. Gurung’s contention was that by inviting tenders for the construction of three roads in areas that come under the jurisdiction of the GTA, the north Bengal development department of the state government had violated the provisions of the GTA Act. Raha had said on September 9: “According to the GTA Act, only the hill body has the power to invite tenders and distribute the jobs for development work. Section 26, Section 26 (xliii) and Section 32 of the GTA Act says that neither the state government nor any of its department has the right to float such a tender.” The three roads for which tenders were floated are stretches between Payung and Lower Dalapchand in Kalimpong subdivision (at a cost of Rs 2.51 crore), Gairygoan Pathak and Maneybara in Darjeeling subdivision (Rs 1.35 crore) and Pankhabari Road and Thapakhali in Kurseong subdivision (Rs 2.31 crore). These roads are being constructed under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, a centrally sponsored scheme. The funds under this scheme are channelled through the state government. The GTA’s plea prompted the court to issue an interim stay on the tender process and ask the state government to clear its stand with regard to the petitioner’s allegation. Today, when the case came up for hearing, Pradip Mitra, the counsel appearing for the state, informed the court that work for construction of the road had already been started and the development work would get hampered if the stay continued. The lawyer also claimed that the GTA never made any objection while the tender process was going on. “The GTA never raised any objection while the tender process was going on. Today, when the construction work is in full swing, they have approached the court,” the lawyer said. The state lawyer also claimed that the north Bengal development department did not violate the GTA Act while floating the tender. When the judge asked the GTA lawyer whether his client had raised any objection when the tender process was on, the lawyer could not produce any document to show that. The judge vacated the stay and asked the state to file an affidavit in the last week of October to counter GTA’s allegation. The judge, however, made it clear that the state would have to abide by the result of the case. GTA Sabha member Ola, who filed the case, said: “This is just a stop-gap relief for the state government. The bigger issue is about the state government transgressing on the autonomous character of the GTA. We will be discussing the issue with our legal team and we will definitely be going for an appeal at a higher forum.” tt
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 16:30:15 +0000