Chhattisgarh HC dismisses IMA plea on bio-medical waste facility, flags delay in environmental clearance

RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh high court has dismissed a writ petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Korba branch, challenging a bio-medical waste tender awarded to a private company.

The court, comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Bibhu Datta Guru, observed that the IMA's Korba branch itself was part of the committee that had approved the tender while hearing the petition on Monday.The petition, filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, sought to declare the tender awarded to the private company as 'void ab initio', citing that the company had not started the work even after the contract period had lapsed. The petitioner requested the court to reject any extension sought by the company and direct a fresh tender to be floated for the Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility in the Korba division.During the hearing, the advocate general, Prafull N Bharat, pointed out that the petition was not maintainable as the IMA, Korba branch, was a member of the committee that had passed the resolution to allot the work to the respondent firm.

The IMA’s counsel, senior advocate Y.C. Sharma, argued that the association had verbally objected to the high rates quoted by the company. He also submitted that the petition was filed on behalf of 10 doctors who ran private nursing homes and had nominated a member to file the petition.After reviewing the documents, the court noted that the petitioner was not nominated by the IMA as a whole but by a group of doctors. The court ruled that since the IMA was a member of the committee that had approved the tender, it had no right to challenge the same.

The bench, finding no ground for interference, dismissed the petition.However, the court also noted that the tender was floated on 18 July 2019 and the work was allotted on 25 November 2019, but had not yet begun due to a pending environmental clearance. The court instructed the concerned authority to take a decision on the environmental clearance application expeditiously so the work could begin without further delay.