Patna, March 26 (H.S.): The Patna High Court has promptly canceled the newly issued work order for pathology services from the Bihar Health Society. Additionally, it has prohibited any new initiatives on this matter until a final decision is reached. The Bihar State Health Society had signed a contract with Hindustan Wellness and its partner Khanna Lab for pathology services on November 19, 2024. The High Court found that essential rules pertaining to this contract were overlooked, and in haste, the work order was issued to Hindustan Wellness and Khanna Lab even before the consortium was formed. In this regard, the Patna High Court granted the department one week to respond. This decision was delivered by the High Court after a hearing on March 24. The case proceedings will continue.
Pathology tests at government health centers in Bihar are being conducted under a public-private partnership. In October 2024, the Bihar Health Department issued a new tender, which has been controversial from the outset. Initially, a company named Science House was declared as L1 (Lowest Bidder), but it was then revealed that this company submitted two different rates in its financial bid. Based on this, its claim was rejected, and the consortium that offered a lower rate in the financial bid was declared the winner. It was also stated that Hindustan Wellness and its partner company Khanna Lab did not meet the technical criteria mentioned in the tender. Despite objections from Science House, the Bihar State Health Society issued a Letter of Intent in favor of Hindustan Wellness and Khanna Lab on November 5, 2024, and subsequently signed an agreement with them on November 11. However, according to the tender conditions, forming a consortium is mandatory within 90 days of the tender opening, which expired on March 19.
Hindustan Wellness quickly established its lab in several hospitals following this agreement. In the meantime, Science House filed a writ petition in the Patna High Court, objecting to Hindustan Wellness being declared the winner and signing an agreement with them, and sought to impose a ban on this. Furthermore, the already operational company POCIT also filed a writ petition demanding the court’s intervention, alleging irregularities in the tender process. The High Court is considering both writs.
On January 24, while hearing this case, the bench of Justice P.B. Bajantari of the Patna High Court directed the Bihar State Health Society not to assign any new responsibilities to any new company in this matter and to maintain the status quo. However, the state government did not show seriousness in this matter. Hindustan Wellness continued its operations as before. During the hearing on the petitions of POCIT and Science House on March 24, the bench of Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Justice Surendra Pandey found that the Bihar State Health Society had issued a letter of intent in the names of Hindustan Wellness and Khanna Lab without the formation of a consortium and had subsequently entered into an agreement with them.
During the court proceedings, both the government lawyer and the lawyers of the alleged consortium’s partners admitted that the consortium had not yet been formed. Only at the time of submitting the tender did the two companies sign an MOU. The Patna High Court noted in its observations that a decision in this case was made in haste. The High Court has annulled the agreement made with the consortium with immediate effect and has asked the government lawyer to file a response within a week. The next hearing is likely to take place in the first week of April.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
