KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has observed that the contracts for procurement of furniture for government schools were lawful as the same has not been disputed by provincial authorities cornered, but they have a right to carry out inspection of school desks.

A single-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Shafi Siddiqui said that the provincial education and procurement authorities kept mysteriously quiet leaving it to court to decide the matter and never pleaded for the dismissal of the suit.

“The pleadings suggested that the parties were not at issue about contracts and the education department had denied the rumours of cancellation of contracts in question and clarified that a committee was constituted to take appropriate action as per law,” it added.

“It seems that strategically parties resorted to litigation to have an order of the court in presence of media campaign and were not willing to do it themselves and cause for filing this suit is only to the extent that defendants gave a deaf ear to the requests of plaintiffs as far as supply and its acknowledgment is concerned,” it added.

SHC passes order after provincial authorities choose not to contest plaintiffs’ claim

The bench in its order further said, “Defendants are within their rights to accept and inspect the goods as per specifications before goods could be acknowledged. Therefore, if a committee is created or formed for inspection of goods, the plaintiffs should not shy away and the only purpose left for the committee is to carry out above mandate as per terms of the contracts”.

Four private firms had filed a suit in SHC in September last year submitting that all the plaintiffs were awarded tenders amounting over Rs2.8 billion in June 2021 as their bids were lowest and thereafter they entered into contracts/agreements with the Sindh government in August for procurement of school desks for Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad regions.

Citing the secretary of education and literacy department, chairman of the central procurement committee and managing director of the Sindh Public Procurement Regulatory Authority as defendants, they submitted that the education and literacy department through a notification issued on Sept 17, 2021 constituted a committee to review the process of procurement.

The bench in its order said the matter triggered and gained suspicious that the desks were procured at a higher price when a story was circulated in the media which prompted the plaintiffs to file the suit and the education department through those who were intended to take advantage of the situation was pressurised to cancel and terminate contracts on account of some newspaper clippings.

The education department and procurement committee in their comments contended that it was a transparent procurement process and each and every thing was vetted and inspected as per the specification of contracts.

The procurement committee further submitted that since the contracts were never terminated nor had any intention, but it was the right of the defendants to inspect the goods in question and thus the cause to file instant suit never accrued.

The education secretary in his reply conceded that the prices of the desks were at higher side, but again denied the rumours of cancellation of contracts.

“Defendants have not been able to satisfy this court that the procurement process faulted or lack transparency. In pleadings, defendants kept mysteriously quiet leaving it to court to decide, however, pleadings suggested that the parties are not at issue as far as Issue No.1 [lawfulness of contracts] is concerned,” the bench stated in its order.

It further observed that since September 2021, a high-powered committee had not taken any action whatsoever as far as the procurement process was concerned and there was nothing to stop it from taking a lawful action.

It is the responsibility of the procurement committee under the law to have inspected the inventory of goods strictly in terms of the specification as made out in the contracts, it added.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2022