No ECR contract till appeal is decided: TN tells HC

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday assured the Madras High Court that no contract would be awarded for the proposed elevated corridor on the East Coast Road (ECR) until a pending appeal over the rejection of a tender is finally decided.
The assurance was given before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice M. M. Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan, which was hearing an appeal filed by a construction firm challenging the rejection of its bid for the six-lane ECR project between Tiruvanmiyur and Uthandi.
The project, proposed by the Tamil Nadu State Highways Authority (TNSHA), seeks to expand the busy coastal stretch to ease traffic congestion and improve connectivity along the corridor. Though tenders were floated in August last year, the technical bid submitted by the petitioner was rejected, triggering the present litigation.
Earlier, the firm had moved the High Court even before the tender process was concluded. However, a single judge dismissed its plea. Aggrieved by the order, the company preferred an appeal before the Division Bench, contending that its bid had been rejected arbitrarily and with mala fide intent.
Appearing for the State, senior counsel submitted that the petitioner could avail itself of the statutory remedy by filing an appeal before the competent government authority against the rejection of its tender. It was further submitted that such an appeal would be considered and disposed of within 10 days.
Recording the submission, the Bench directed that no contract for the project should be finalised until the appeal process is completed. The court permitted the petitioner to file its appeal within five days and instructed the authorities to pass orders within 10 days thereafter.
The order ensures that the tender process for the key infrastructure project remains subject to judicial oversight, given the significance of the arterial ECR stretch linking Chennai with its southern suburbs and coastal areas.