Supreme Court Freezes Manipur PMGSY Tender Awards Worth ₹638 Crore

The Supreme Court has directed that the existing position be maintained in a dispute over 96 road construction packages in Manipur valued at ₹638 crore, awarded under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

A Bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan issued the direction while hearing a special leave petition moved by construction firm Nirbhay Construction. The firm had challenged a September 17 order of a Division Bench of the Manipur High Court, which declined to interfere with a single judge's refusal of interim relief.

The apex court asked the single judge, before whom the main writ petition is pending, to hear the matter on merits and dispose of it as expeditiously as possible, preferably within two months from the first hearing on merits. Until that disposal, the respondents are to maintain status quo, the Bench said.

The dispute arises from two tender notices issued by the Manipur State Rural Roads Development Agency for construction and maintenance of roads under the PMGSY. One tender covered 55 work packages and the other 41, adding up to 96 packages. The High Court recorded the total project cost at ₹638 crore.

Nirbhay Construction, represented by advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi, has alleged that rival bidder Bhartia Infra Projects Limited (BIPL) submitted false and fabricated documents regarding its technical qualifications and ought to have been disqualified under the tender conditions. According to the petition, BIPL was later issued Letters of Acceptance for 84 of the 96 packages — 48 under one tender and 36 under the other.

The petitioner flagged several alleged discrepancies, including affidavits showing the same individual holding two positions at once, differing signatures attributed to the same person, and claims about personnel experience it described as implausible. It specifically pointed to a supervisor whose affidavit claimed eight years of experience in civil construction, even though the Class X certificate filed with the bid related to the 2021 examination. Questions were also raised over documents concerning equipment and an invoice and cash receipt for about ₹9.57 crore.

Nirbhay Construction filed a complaint on September 3, after the technical evaluation of bids. Clause 22.6 of the Instructions to Bidders gave bidders five working days from publication of the technical evaluation results to lodge complaints and required such complaints to be considered for resolution before financial bids were opened. The financial bids were subsequently opened and Letters of Acceptance issued to successful bidders.

A single judge of the High Court had earlier declined interim relief, noting that the technical bids had been evaluated by technical experts and that the court does not sit in appeal over their opinion. A Division Bench then refused to interfere, observing that the September 3 complaint had been considered on September 10, before the financial bids were opened, and that the tender conditions on complaints had been complied with.

The Division Bench also weighed the public importance of the road projects and a September 30 cut-off for the funds, after which they could lapse, concluding that interfering with the tender process at that stage would not serve the public interest.