New Delhi, July 15: The Delhi High Court has taken a firm stance against the Ministry of External Affairs by canceling the technical evaluation process for outsourcing consular, passport, and visa (CPV) services at Indian missions located in Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kuwait, Singapore, and Canberra (Australia). The court stated that the evaluation of bidders was conducted in an arbitrary, illogical, and opaque manner, violating Article 14 of the Constitution.
A bench comprising Justice Anil Khetarpal and Justice Shail Jain delivered this ruling in response to petitions filed by E Trav Tech Limited and Verasis Limited. Both companies challenged their disqualification during the technical bidding phase.
The court noted that while it generally refrains from intervening in technical evaluations conducted by expert committees, judicial review becomes necessary when the decision-making process is arbitrary, opaque, and contrary to the constitutional principles of fairness, transparency, and equality.
The bench remarked that the parameter-based scores assigned to the petitioners were arbitrary and unreasonable. Therefore, the technical evaluation could not withstand scrutiny under Article 14 of the Constitution.
The court also pointed out that, following the Supreme Court‘s directive, the government provided the companies with parameter-based scores but failed to clarify the basis for these scores or the reasons for any deductions.
The ruling highlighted that the evaluation sheets did not record any deficiencies in the petitioners’ proposals, nor did they explain why lower scores were awarded compared to competing companies. This lack of clarity left the companies unable to understand how their proposals were deemed weaker than others.
Additionally, the Delhi High Court found that similar proposals and documents submitted to different Indian missions received varying scores without any recorded justification. The court emphasized that evaluating similar materials based on the same criteria is essential for a fair and transparent tender process.
The central government argued that the matter had already been settled and could not be re-heard. However, the court dismissed this argument, stating that new grounds arose after the parameter-based scores were disclosed, making the petitions eligible for hearing.
The court also rejected the argument that deficiencies in the bids were communicated during the oral presentations before the technical evaluation committee. It asserted that if the basis for evaluation was the oral presentation, the reasons should have been documented. Oral arguments cannot replace written justifications.
The High Court concluded that the failure to document reasons in the evaluation process constituted a significant flaw. This violated the General Financial Rules (GFR) of 2017, the tender conditions, and established principles of fair administration.
Consequently, the court annulled the technical evaluation and the contracts awarded to the successful private companies. It directed the Ministry of External Affairs and the relevant Indian missions to issue a new Request for Proposal (RFP) within one month and expedite the new tender process.
However, the court clarified that the current service providers would continue their operations until the new tender process is completed, ensuring that the public does not face any inconvenience or disruption in passport, visa, and consular services.
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