Orissa HC Quashes BMC Contract To Company For Sanitation Works In Bhubaneswar

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has quashed the order of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) awarding contract to a company to render sanitation services in Odisha capital.

The BMC had selected the company to carry out street sweeping, cleaning of drains and conservation of lanes in 17 wards of two zones under its jurisdiction and issued the work order on May 27, 2022.

The order covered wards 24, 25, 27, 37, 38, 29, 47, 48, 49, 50 and 51 in south-west zone and wards 31, 32, 33, 42, 43 and 45 in south east zone.

Hearing a petition filed by another company challenging the BMC order, the two-judge bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Gourishankar Satpathy on Friday said the court found that the bids submitted by service provider had committed fraud and indulged in corrupt practices, according to a TOI report.

The selection of the company cannot be sustained in the eye of law and the same is quashed, the bench ruled and directed BMC to take follow up action immediately.

The bench also said the service provider was debarred by Angul Municipality from participating in the sanitation tenders for three years from February 10, 2021.