Updated on Saturday, July 04, 2009, 23:28 IST

Chandigarh, July 04: On a plea by Nokia Siemens Network (NSN), the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed BSNL to get scrutinised the rejection of NSN's techno-commercial bid by an independent committee, and provide a copy of the proceedings to the petitioners.

A Bench comprising Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Daya Chaudhary held within three days of receiving the proceedings, the petitioner would give its comments to the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of BSNL, who could pass an order considering the viewpoint of the petitioner.

NSN in its petition filed before the High Court had held that on May 1, 2008, BSNL had invited tenders for procuring 93 million lines. NSN had also filed a tender. After a pre-bid conference and correspondence on the issue, NSN came to know that the technical bid had been rejected by BSNL. No formal communication was received in this regard.

Holding that only a single bidder was left and it would not result in competitive prices, NSN sought an independent committee to look into the evaluation of bids. Finding no response on their request, the company moved the High Court.

The counsel for BSNL held that a committee had been constituted even before issuing tender notices by BSNL. The rejection of NSN's techno-commercial bid was subject to scrutiny by the committee.

Bureau Report