Court seeks response from Tamil Nadu government on cancellation of bid for yellow lentils

24-Sep-2024 07:59 PM

Chennai. A commission agent has filed a petition in the Madras High Court against a tender issued for the purchase of Canadian yellow lentils for distribution through the Public Distribution System (PDS) in Tamil Nadu.

It states that the Tamil Nadu government has taken a policy decision to supply only tur dal through PDS, while bids have been invited by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation for Canadian yellow lentils, which is against the policy decision of the state government.

The petition further states that there is a possibility of huge loss due to this tender. The profit margin of Canadian yellow lentils will increase to Rs 25 per kg, which will cause a loss of more than Rs 120 crore to the government treasury.

Countering this argument, the Advocate General has said that this is the same petitioner who had filed an application in the court to include Canadian yellow lentils in the procurement process of pulses in the year 2023.

But now he is challenging that process. After hearing the arguments of the Advocate General and the petitioner, a two-judge bench stayed the court proceedings, directing the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) to file its reply on this.

It was said on behalf of the petitioner that Arhar (tuvar) dal and Canadian yellow lentil are different varieties of pulses which have no similarity and their prices are also different, so it is not appropriate to keep them in a single purchase category.

In the course of conducting the tender process, the corporation has adopted an arbitrary and one-sided attitude, so this tender should be cancelled.

The corporation was repeatedly warned that there is a huge difference in the price of tuvar dal and Canadian yellow lentil, so if its tender is given, the treasury will have to suffer a huge loss, but still the corporation failed to use its mind.