Tender For High-End Vehicles By Lokpal Raises Governance Alarm Over Institutional Expenditure

The Lokpal of India, established under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, issued a tender dated 16.10.2025 inviting open bids for the supply of seven BMW 3 Series 330 Li vehicles.

The tender, accessible through the Central Public Procurement system calls upon reputed agencies to supply the cars, identified as the long-wheelbase BMW 330 Li M Sport variant in white, with an estimated on road cost of approximately Rs 60-70 lakh per unit. The total procurement value is therefore likely to exceed Rs 4 crore.

According to the tender details reported across media, bids were to be submitted between 17.10.2025 and 06.11.2025, with evaluation to follow soon thereafter. The Lokpal stipulated a preferred delivery period of two weeks from the date of supply order, extendable up to 30 days, and required that the bid remain valid for 90 days from opening.

The tender prescribes an Earnest Money Deposit of Rs 10 lakh, consistent with standard government procurement practices for contracts of comparable value. In addition, it imposes a vendor obligation to conduct a comprehensive theoretical and practical training programme for designated drivers and staff of the Lokpal.

The training must be completed within fifteen days of vehicle delivery and shall cover a minimum of fifty kilometres of supervised on-road driving per driver, extendable to one hundred kilometres where necessary. The tender further specifies that all expenses related to the training including honorarium, travel, accommodation, materials, and fuel shall be borne exclusively by the vendor.

The issuance of such a tender by an anti corruption ombudsman invites a detailed legal analysis of its conformity with statutory, financial, and administrative frameworks. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 does not itself prescribe procurement procedures; instead, institutions constituted under the Act are governed by general central procurement norms and financial regulations issued by the Ministry of Finance.

Chief among these are the General Financial Rules, 2017 (GFR), the Manual for Procurement of Goods, and departmental delegation of financial powers approved by the competent authority. Under these rules, any procurement by a statutory body must demonstrate compliance with the principles of transparency, competitiveness, economy, efficiency, and accountability.

Rule 173 (xii) of the GFR cautions that brand specific tenders should ordinarily be avoided unless a precise technical requirement or compatibility consideration demands it and must be supported by a certificate to that effect from the competent authority.

The tender's reference to a particular make and variant, without publicly available technical justification, could therefore raise compliance concerns under procurement law.

Under the GFR framework, the purchase of vehicles for official use is regulated by the Department of Expenditure’s Office Memoranda, which classify vehicles based on engine capacity and restrict purchase to non luxury categories except with express sanction.

It would therefore be necessary to ascertain whether the Lokpal obtained concurrence from the Ministry of Finance or any other controlling authority, or whether its internal financial powers under Section 8 of the Act and subsequent notifications suffice to authorise the transaction independently.

The inclusion of vendor funded training is another area that requires scrutiny. While capacity building for drivers may be operationally justified, the obligation for vendors to bear all related costs effectively adds an indirect financial component to the contract. Rule 192 of the GFR mandates that the full cost implications of procurement should be evaluated transparently; consequently, such clauses must be factored into bid evaluation to ensure that no implicit cost loading or cross-subsidisation occurs.

Moreover, the training requirement must not impose conditions that restrict competition or advantage specific vendors, as that would contravene the fairness principle underpinning open tendering.

From an accountability standpoint, Section 44 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act obliges the institution to prepare and submit an annual report to the Central Government, which is then laid before Parliament. All major procurements and expenditures are subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, who may examine whether the purchase was consistent with financial propriety, economy, and public interest.

Any deviation from established norms or absence of justification could be reflected in audit observations and require remedial action.

In the event of a dispute or challenge, the legality of the procurement process would be assessed on the touchstones of administrative law; reasonableness, proportionality, and non-arbitrariness. Courts have consistently held that state and statutory bodies must conform to transparent and competitive procedures in spending public funds. If the procurement decision were to be contested, a reviewing court would examine whether the Lokpal’s choice of vehicle was rationally connected to its statutory objectives, whether due process was followed in inviting and evaluating bids, and whether adequate justification exists for any deviation from standard procurement practices.

The tender dated 16 October 2025, therefore, presents several issues requiring precise legal verification: compliance with the General Financial Rules, justification for brand-specific procurement, adherence to delegated financial powers, observance of approval and audit protocols, and conformity with constitutional standards of reasonableness under Article 14.