HC directs BSNL to explain Nokia-Siemens' disqualification

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed state-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to disclose the reasons for disqualifying telecom equipment vendor Nokia-Siemens Network, from its recent 93-million-line tender, by tomorrow afternoon.

BSNL chose the bids submitted by Ericsson and Huawei, while rejecting offers made by three other vendors namely, Nokia-Siemens, ZTE and Alcatel Lucent.

Nokia-Siemens approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court subsequent to the dismissal of its petition filed in the Delhi High Court, asking for a stay on the recent BSNL tender worth over Rs 30,000 crore.

In its response at the Delhi High Court, BSNL had submitted that the matter pertained to a tender floated by the state-run company in the Chandigarh, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata zones.

As a result, the division bench in Delhi ruled that Nokia-Siemens could approach the appropriate High Court where the jurisdiction lay.

While disposing of a writ filed by Nokia-Siemens, the Punjab and Haryana High Court also allowed Nokia-Siemens to inspect all the records of the tender to scrutinise on what accounts the company was disqualified.

If BSNL fails to comply, or if Nokia-Siemens is not satisfied with the replies provided by BSNL, the court has given Nokia-Siemens the liberty of filing a fresh petition.