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• The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to stay the awarding of a contract to SGS Infra Projects, the world-class quality auditors employed for monitoring quality of the ongoing road repair work apart from the improvement work in the city.Stating that an order at this stage would go against the public interest, a division bench of justice SA Bobade and justice R Dhanuka refused to stay the contract. “If injunction is granted, it might frustrate the very intention of the civic body to have a simultaneous quality monitoring and audit of road work or might result in stopping the road work itself,” it added.
• It was while hearing a petition filed by Niaz Ahmed Vanu, a member of the BMC Standing Committee who has challenged the award of contract to SGS India, that the court observed that the quality auditor was actually half-way through, having completed four of the eight month-long contract, when the petition was filed.Stating that the contract was awarded merely on CM Prithviraj Chavan’s recommendation, Vanu contended that no competitive bids had been invited and due procedure, as prescribed under the BMC Act, 1888, not followed in the process.
• The Swiss multinational, on the other hand, alleged that the Standing Committee member was set up by some of the road contractors, purportedly exposed by the quality auditor during their four-month period.The appointment of SGS Infra Projects is crucial in view of the BMC undertaking massive road improvement and repair work involving a cost of Rs939.51 crore, and strict monitoring of quality of work is likely to affect the contracts badly.

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