Responding to a writ petition filed by advocates Sriprasad Pandit, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and Bhupal Basnet demanding annulment of the government´s decision, the apex court issued the order, saying the contract was struck without duly following existing legal procedure. [break]
The SC has maintained that the government awarded the contract to the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) of India, without calling open bidding as per existing legal provisions.
A division bench of Justices Sushila Karki, Tarka Raj Bhatta and Ram Kumar Sah issued the interim order after studying the detailed project report (DPR) of the government plan to handover the contract to the Indian firm. Justice Sah, however, had a dissenting opinion, prompting the ruling to be issued through majority of views.
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