New Delhi, 17 July (H.S.): The Central Government has challenged before the Supreme Court the Delhi High Court's judgment quashing the Ministry of External Affairs' technical evaluation process for awarding contracts related to the issuance of Indian passports and visas in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Singapore and Australia.

Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter before a Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant on Friday, seeking an urgent hearing. Following the request, the Supreme Court scheduled the matter for hearing on July 20.

On July 15, the Delhi High Court had set aside the Ministry of External Affairs' technical evaluation process adopted for the passport and visa issuance contracts in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Singapore and Australia. A Bench headed by Justice Anil Kshetarpal observed that the process suffered from significant arbitrariness and lacked transparency in awarding contracts for passport and visa services in these countries.

The dispute arose after the Ministry of External Affairs invited tenders for providing passport and visa issuance services. During the evaluation process, the Ministry declared certain companies technically disqualified. Two such companies, E Trav Tech Limited and Verasis Limited, challenged the Ministry's decision to declare them technically ineligible for the tender process.

The High Court also quashed the contracts awarded to the successful bidders. However, to ensure that passport and visa services to the public are not disrupted, the Court directed the companies currently providing these services to continue operations until a fresh tender process is completed and new service providers take over, in accordance with the law.

The High Court had further observed that the marks awarded during the technical evaluation were arbitrary and that the tender process lacked transparency. It held that the Ministry of External Affairs and the concerned Indian Missions violated Rules 173(4) and 189 of the General Financial Rules. The Court also noted that the companies whose bids were rejected were not informed of the reasons for their disqualification.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar