PIL challenges tender process for LED street-lights

The Gujarat High Court today sought the view of the state government over a PIL challenging its decision to appoint a company, allegedly without floating a tender, for installing LED street lights.
The division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi asked the government pleader to seek the response of the government and kept the matter for hearing on Tuesday.
Petitioner Paresh Gurjar argued in his PIL that state government appointed Energy Efficiency Services Limited to carry out the task of installing LED street lights across 162 urban local bodies and eight municipal corporations without following due tendering process.

EESL -- a Joint Venture company of central PSUs -- has entered into an MoU with the state to execute the project.
The petitioner said EESL was given the work through single tendering process without following due procedure, which may affect the quality of the work and result in loss of taxpayers' money.
It said the government should have conducted competitive bidding instead.