Read Time: 06 minutes

The Delhi High Court has made a correction in its verdict by which it had imposed costs upon a logistics company, for concealment of facts and directed it to deposit a 10 percent amount of a contract value awarded to it to be utilized for the installation of a smog tower, owing to certain arithmetical error. 

Therefore, the high court said that its earlier order by which it asked for the installation of a smog tower here is not possible because of the inadequate amount that would be deposited.

The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Jasmeet Singh had imposed the fine on SARR Freight Corporation for concealing that they had been banned by the Ministry of Defence for one year and by Food Corporation of India for five years while bidding for a RITES Ltd tender for engagement of a freight forwarder for transportation of passenger coaches to Mozambique.

While noting that contract value is of Rs 125 crore, the court had asked the company to pay 10% (12.50 crore) of it for a public cause — for setting up the smog tower. After the judgment, SARR Freight moved an application before the court stating that the value of the contract awarded to it was only Rs 12,14,98,210. RITES also confirmed the assertion and stated that reference to the figure of Rs 125 crore in its counter affidavit related to the value of the consignment of railway coaches which had been lifted by the cranes to be made available under the contract in question.

Therefore, taking note of the same, Court corrected the arithmetical error in its judgment and reduced the costs imposed from of rupees 12.5 crore to 1.21 crore.

“Since the aforesaid amount would be highly inadequate to meet the purpose for which we directed the amount to be utilised, namely for setting up of a Smog Tower, we direct the respondent no.3 (logistics company) to deposit the said amount in this court within six weeks, ” the bench said.

The bench directed that Rs 25 lakhs each be deposited with the Delhi State Legal Services Authority, Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee, Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund and Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund.

This direction is besides Rs 21,49,821 to be deposited with the Indigent and Disabled Lawyers Committee.

Background

The court’s judgment came while deciding a plea fled by CJDARCL Logistics Ltd. seeking direction to RITES Ltd to cancel the bids of the other private company and grant the tender to the petitioner, being the second-lowest bidder. CJDARCL is a company engaged in the business of logistics and transportation of goods across India by road and rail,

RITES Ltd had floated an e-tender in August last year for the engagement of freight forwarder for transportation of export project and both the petitioner and another private firm had participated in it.

The case of the petitioner was that the RITES Ltd, in an erroneous manner, first opened the commercial bids and subsequently the technical bids of the bidders, pursuant to which the other private firm was declared as an L1 bidder, while the petitioner company was declared as L2 bidder.