Chennai: The Madras High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the award of a tender to Joyalukkas for supplying one-gram, 22-carat gold rings to babies born in government hospitals under the ‘Thaymaman Thanga Modhiram’ scheme.
The Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation had invited a tender for procuring 4,41,667 gold rings. Chennai-based goldsmith Raj had challenged the award, arguing that Joyalukkas had quoted just Rs 4,465 for supplying each ring and that the price was commercially unviable, particularly as hallmarking alone costs Rs 45 per ornament.
The petitioner also questioned the Medical Services Corporation’s expertise in procuring gold ornaments. However, a Bench comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan observed that the petitioner could challenge the scheme or the tender conditions, but not the decision to award the tender. The judges said the arrangement would benefit the government and that officials could cancel the tender if the ornaments failed to meet quality standards. The petition was dismissed, with the court stating that a detailed order would follow.