With reference to the Delhi High Court’s July 15 judgment, the government had challenged it on grounds of finding serious flaws in the way bids submitted by private companies were evaluated for the outsourcing contracts.

The High Court had ruled that the technical evaluation process was unfair and lacked transparency.

Now, the Supreme Court of India has dismissed the Centre’s challenge to the Delhi High Court’s decision seeking the quashing of the Ministry of External Affairs’ (MEA) tender process, which aimed at outsourcing passport, visa and consular services at Indian missions in the UAE.

Further to this development, the apex court ensured that until a fresh tender process is completed, there would be no disruption to services by allowing the MEA to make temporary arrangements.

The Supreme Court modified the High Court’s order to ensure uninterrupted passport and consular services. The court also permitted the ministry to adopt any other suitable arrangement to keep services running at the four Indian missions.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant refused to interfere with the Delhi High Court’s ruling and directed the Centre to comply with its directions within three months.

The court clarified that the interim arrangement will not create any special rights for any party.

The controversy initially began when the MEA overhauled contracts for operating Indian Consular Application Centres overseas.

Long-time service providers BLS International and SGIVS Global that managed Indian consular centres in the UAE were no longer part of the new process after BLS was debarred from bidding for fresh contracts.

Alhind Tours & Travels LLC – a travel business with operations in India and the UAE emerged as the successful bidder for operations in the UAE, following which unsuccessful bidders challenged the technical evaluation process before the Delhi High Court.

On July 15, the High Court quashed the tender process, ruling that the technical evaluation was arbitrary, lacked transparency and violated principles of fairness.

The MEA has been directed to complete a fresh tender process, preferably within three months.

Currently, Indian diplomatic missions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are providing passport and consular services from their premises due to these legal hurdles. – editor@nrifocus.com