CPM hits out at panel on airports

A senior CPI(M) member of Parliament has accused the empowered group of ministers on Delhi and Mumbai airport modernisation of apparently committing an act of commission, alleging it had transgressed its power by "evolving its own bidding criteria" by reducing the technical prequalification benchmark from 80 per cent to 50 per cent to allow more bidders.

Observing that the committee of secretaries had recommended that only one bidder each be technically qualified for the two airports, Rajya Sabha member Dipankar Mukherjee said the empowered group of ministers could either ha ve approved that recommendation or scrapped the evaluation process and sought fresh bids.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the CPI(M) leader said, "Instead, the empowered group of ministers decided to evolve its own bidding criteria and in the process, reduced the benchmark for technical prequalification from 80 per cent to 50 per cent. The empowered group of ministers accordingly decided that four bidders for each airport could be allowed to go for the opening of financial bids."

"From the above, it is apparent that the empowered group of ministers had actually put its own input to the recommendation of the committee of secretaries or inter-ministerial group, which is grossly improper if not unethical," Mukherjee said.

Mukherjee said the executive, in this case, has "clearly transgressed its power by going beyond the terms of reference, and therefore owes an answer to Parliament for its apparent act of commission".

The Left leader requested the prime minister to reconsider the Cabinet decision on the selection of bidders by the empowered group of ministers as it was "beyond its terms of reference" and taken in "undue haste".

"I am sure you will agree that an act of omission/commission, if any, of the executive has to be judged in Parliament as this involves not only the test of law by judiciary but accountability of the executive to Parliament," Mukherjee said.