Observing that it was “unreasonable”, the Bombay High Court has restrained Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) from opening financial bids for the tender it floated to run medical shops on a contract basis Rajiv Gandhi Medical College and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa in Thane for which one of the condition was that the pharmacist must have an annual turnover of Rs 120 crore or more for the past three years.
A division bench of justices Gautam Patel and Madhav Jamdar, on Friday, stayed the opening of the financial bids but allowed the corporation to open the technical bids.
The HC was hearing a petition filed by Renuka Malvade and Dinesh Bhagnani, who have their medical shops in Kalwa and Navi Mumbai respectively, through advocates Anant Vadgaonkar and Satish Ingale.
They have challenged the tender issued by the TMC inviting bids to run medical shops on contract basis Rajiv Gandhi Medical College and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa in Thane alleging that the conditions were discriminatory and were favourable to a few pharmacists.
Their counsel N Bubna argued that the tender one of the conditions for the tender floated in February this year states that the joint venture to run the medical shop should have a minimum annual turnover of Rs 120 crore or more per year from such an activity for the last three years. Also, the bidder should have an existing medical shop in a government/ semi-government/ private hospital of 100 beds in the Thane Municipal Zone.
Alleging discrimination, the petition states that as per the tender conditions, only those who are at present running medical shops in government /semi-government/ private hospitals will be able to bid. A petition is filed by two different pharmacists who have a separate annual turnover of Rs 15-20 lakh respectively.
Another condition is that the bidder should have 30 outlets in Mumbai/ Thane or its periphery. “It is not possible for a common pharmacist or medical shop owner to open 30 medical shops in Mumbai, Thane or its peripheral cities,” read the plea.
“The conditions are so one-sided so as to benefit certain bidders as it would disqualify the petitioners,” it adds seeking to set aside the discriminatory clauses in the tender.
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