MEA given three months to issue fresh tender, with interim arrangements permitted.
Dubai: The Supreme Court of India has rejected the Centre’s appeal against the Delhi High Court’s decision to cancel the Ministry of External Affairs’ (MEA) tender process for outsourcing passport, visa and consular services at Indian diplomatic missions in the UAE.
The Supreme Court also sought to prevent any interruption to services by permitting the MEA to put temporary arrangements in place until the completion of a new tender process.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant declined to overturn the Delhi High Court’s order and directed the Centre to follow the court’s instructions within three months, according to ANI.
Will services be affected?
To ensure there is no disruption to passport and consular services, the Supreme Court modified the Delhi High Court’s order and allowed temporary measures to continue until a fresh tender process is completed.
The Supreme Court allowed the MEA to continue working with the current service providers or temporarily appoint the lowest (L-1) bidders whose contracts had previously been cancelled. The ministry was also given the option to adopt any other appropriate arrangement to ensure uninterrupted services at the four Indian missions in the UAE.
The court clarified that the temporary measures would not grant any special rights or advantages to any party and would remain valid only until a new tender process is completed.
According to Live Law, the order was issued by a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana after hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta representing the Union Government, along with Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, AM Singhvi and Shyam Divan representing private firms E Trav Tech Limited and Verasys Limited.
The Centre had appealed against the Delhi High Court’s July 15 ruling, which identified significant shortcomings in the evaluation of bids submitted by private companies for the outsourcing contracts.
The High Court held that the technical assessment process was neither fair nor transparent, ruling that it violated Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law.
During Monday’s hearing, Chief Justice Surya Kant questioned the government’s stand, remarking, “But you invited the High Court order by not giving grounds.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the tender’s scoring system needed to be interpreted in a practical manner across multiple bids, warning that a strict literal interpretation of the criteria could lead to arbitrary results.
Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed that the issue highlighted by the Solicitor General was the same concern raised by the Delhi High Court.
“The High Court found that the criteria governing the assessment of bids were not clearly set out and resulted in an unworkable process. If that is the case, then under the law laid down by this Court, the terms of a tender cannot be altered after the bidding process has begun,” Justice Bagchi said.
The Solicitor General also told the court that records relating to the tender process had been submitted to the Delhi High Court in a sealed cover and offered to place the same material before the Supreme Court. However, the Bench declined to interfere with the High Court’s ruling.
How did the dispute begin?
The dispute arose after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) revamped the contracts for operating Indian Consular Application Centres overseas.
Long-time service providers BLS International and SGIVS Global, which had been managing Indian consular centres in the UAE, were excluded from the new process after BLS was barred from participating in fresh tenders.
Alhind Tours & Travels LLC, a travel company with operations in India and the UAE, subsequently emerged as the successful bidder for the UAE contract, with the transition originally scheduled to take place on July 1.
However, the tender process was challenged by unsuccessful bidders, who approached the Delhi High Court alleging irregularities in the technical evaluation of bids.
On July 15, the Delhi High Court cancelled the tender process, ruling that the technical evaluation was arbitrary, lacked transparency and failed to meet the standards of fairness.
The court found that identical proposals had been awarded different scores across various Indian missions without any clear explanation and directed the MEA to issue fresh Requests for Proposal (RFPs).
What happens now?
The Supreme Court has upheld the Delhi High Court’s decision, while ensuring that passport, visa and consular services at Indian missions in the UAE continue without disruption through temporary arrangements until a fresh tender process is completed.
The Supreme Court has directed the MEA to complete a fresh tender process, preferably within three months, in line with the Delhi High Court’s directions.
In the meantime, amid the ongoing legal proceedings, the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of India in Dubai will continue providing passport and consular services from their own premises to ensure there is no disruption for applicants.
