Don't finalise e-auction bids for 3 nursing home sites in Panchkula: High Court

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 23

Just over a month after an e-auction was conducted for three nursing home sites in Sector 21, Panchkula, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed the finalisation of bids.

The direction came after the Bench of Justice Tejinder Singh Dhindsa and Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj was, among other things, told that the entire exercise was carried out only for the benefit of Alchemist Hospital.

Appearing before the Bench, Manish Kumar and other petitioners through counsel Akshay Jindal added that the respondent-Alchemist Hospital, after the revision in the layout plan of the area, participated in the e-auction conducted “hurriedly” on November 20 and submitted bids for two of the nursing home sites.

As the case came up for preliminary hearing, Jindal sought directions for quashing the layout plan dated October 25, whereby school/ nursery sites were changed to nursing home sites number one,

two and three in front of house number 1957-P, Sector 21, Panchkula.

Jindal invited attention of the Bench to the layout plan before asserting that a nursery school and a primary school sites were reflected adjoining the “released land where Alchemist Hospital was situated in Sector 21, Panchkula” at the time of allotment of plots to them till October 25.

He argued that the procedure mandated under the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran Act was not followed prior to revising the layout plan. Still further, there was a complete negation of the principles of natural justice inasmuch as notice was not published inviting objections from the residents of the locality. “Malice in the decision-making process is also alleged by asserting that this entire exercise has been done only for the benefit of respondent Alchemist Hospital…,” the Bench observed.

Issuing notice of motion to the state of Haryana and other respondents, the Bench also fixed the case for further hearing in the first week of March next year. “It is directed that, in the meantime, the bids received in the e-auction conducted on November 20, 2021, pertaining to nursing home site number 1, 2 and 3, Sector 21, Panchkula, be not finalised,” the Bench directed.

Haryana Additional Advocate-General Aman Bahri accepted the notice on behalf of the state and two other respondents.