A full bench comprising Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justices R V More and Amjad Sayed observed that the corporation has the power to appoint any company which enjoys the trust and confidence of the public at large for the work.
Observing this, the bench dismissed a public interest litigation filed by former NCP corporator Niyaz Vanu, challenging the civic body's decision to appoint Swiss firm SGS Consultancy as quality auditor for Rs 900 crore road works in the city without inviting tenders.
The matter was referred to the full bench after two different division benches of the High Court differed in their judgements.
A division bench of Justices S A Bobde and R D Dhanuka had in August this year held that appointment of an auditor does not involve execution of work or supply of materials and therefore it might not be necessary for the municipal commissioner to invite tenders.
This judgement, however, was at odds with an order passed by another division bench in 2006 following which, the matter was referred to the full bench.
Vanu, in his PIL, claimed that SGS was to be paid over Rs four crore for the work, which could have been done by 16 other audit firms in the city at a cheap rates.
He cited the 2006 HC judgement that had ruled that audit work would have to be allotted only after calling for tenders.
SGS and the BMC insisted the latter could choose a world-class contractor to supervise and assess city roads.
The civic body pointed out that road contractors quote rates 20-30 per cent less, as a result of which reputed construction firms do not participate in the tendering process.
