The Centre has taken the step to challenge the Delhi High Court’s decision regarding the technical evaluation process for outsourcing Consular, Passport, and Visa (CPV) services at Indian Missions in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Singapore, and Canberra. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta approached the Supreme Court seeking an urgent hearing on the Union government’s plea, which was acknowledged by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant for a Monday hearing. The Delhi HC had recently invalidated the technical evaluation process for outsourcing CPV services at these missions, citing issues of arbitrariness and lack of transparency.
In response to petitions by E Trav Tech Limited and Verasys Limited, the Delhi High Court, led by Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Shail Jain, overturned the technical evaluation process for outsourcing CPV services. The court emphasized that while judicial review is not common for technical assessments, it becomes necessary when the decision-making process lacks fairness, transparency, and equality. The judgment highlighted discrepancies in the marking process, where similar proposals received vastly different scores without clear reasons, leading to disqualification of bidders.
The Delhi High Court’s ruling resulted in the annulment of contracts awarded to successful bidders and instructed the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Missions to issue fresh Requests for Proposal within a month. The court directed expedited completion of the tender process while allowing existing service providers to continue operations to avoid disruptions in public services until the new tender process concludes.
