Indian engineering giant IL&FS Engineering has taken the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to court after it prevented the firm from bidding for the 22 km-long Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project allegedly without giving any reason.
The denial by MMRDA was following the Union Home Ministry's denial of security clearance to IL&FS along with a Chinese consortium on Friday. Following this, IL&FS approached the Bombay High Court on Tuesday, which allowed IL&FS to submit its bid, subject to the court's verdict, MMRDA officials said. UPS Madan, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, confirmed that IL&FS had approached the Bombay High Court.
MMRDA has contended that it denied bidding to Chinese consortium along with IL&FS without any reason as the Home Ministry also did not provide any reason to MMRDA for denying security clearance, which is required for every bidder when the project is in proximity to defence installations. The construction site of MTHL is in the vicinity of two major ports, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and the Mumbai Port Trust, as well as the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
Sanjay Khandare, additional metropolitan commissioner, said, "The basic contention of IL&FS in the court is that they were denied the right to bid without giving any reason. However, we cannot give any reason as the Home Ministry has denied them security clearance without giving any reason. But for now, their bid was accepted. Further, the court has asked IL&FS to make Home Ministry a party in the case as well."
An email query sent to IL&FS Engineering seeking its version did not yield any response till the time of going to press. Meanwhile, MMRDA on Wednesday announced that it has received 17 bids for the construction of MTHL.
