ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday restrained Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) from awarding a contract for rebuilding of operation theatres in the orthopaedic department of the hospital.

IHC Justice Babar Sattar issued the restraining order on a petition filed by private firm M/s Biotech Pakistan seeking a fresh tender. The petitioner demanded that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) be asked to probe the ongoing process of award of the contract.

The petitioner’s counsel Barrister Yawar Gardezi argued before the court that Pims previously published a tender notice for renovation of four operation theatres; a total of nine companies participated in the pre-bid presentation process. However, only four companies participated in the bidding process.

As per the petitioner, the four companies which participated in the bidding process were Biotech, Vertex, Radiant and Mediland. The petitioner accused Vertex and Radiant of submitting supporting bids in order to make sure that Mediland would have the lowest bid.

“This made the entire project look transparent and competitive. However, the tender was maliciously designed to ensure Mediland’s successful bid,” the petition stated.

The petitioner has also contended that after his bid was rejected, he submitted a complaint against the technical evaluation in which he gave a comprehensive reply over technical reasons that were used to reject his bid but he has not received any reply till date.

According to him, section 48 of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules 2004, make it compulsory for procurement proceedings to be suspended after a grievance report is submitted.

He has argued in the petition that despite his financial bid being the lowest it was not considered. As per the petition, Mediland submitted a bid of around Euros 6.6 million and his bid was $4 million while the other two bids submitted were Euros 6.7 and 6.8 million.

The court issued notices to chairman, director (Pims), secretary (Ministry of Health), and chief executive officer (CEO) of Mediland and adjourned hearing till July 29.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2022