The Patan High Court has refused to issue an interim order regarding the controversial contract of the 106-megawatt Jagdulla Hydropower Company, which the government is planning to construct in Dolpa.

The Patan High Court has ruled that there is no need to issue an interim order in the writ petition filed by the Siu Infrastructure and High Himalaya Hydro Construction JV against the bid evaluation committee of the Jagdulla project, stating that the financial and technical proposals of the project have already been opened. The court has instructed that the matter be dealt with in accordance with the law.

Siu Infrastructure and High Himalaya Hydro Construction JV had filed the writ petition claiming that the evaluation committee of the Jagdulla Company disqualified their technical proposal in violation of Rules 61 and 62 of the Public Procurement Regulations, 2007.

The Patan High Court’s order also mentions that the issue of Siu Infrastructure and High Himalaya Hydro Construction JV being disqualified during the technical evaluation will be resolved when the final verdict of the case is delivered.

The order states: “Although the petitioner JV’s technical proposal was substantially effective, the petitioner raised the issue that their proposal was declared ‘non-responsive.’ This issue, along with other matters raised by the petitioner, will be resolved at the time of the final decision of the case. Since the financial and technical proposals of the mentioned project have already been opened, there is no need to issue an interim order as requested. Proceed according to the law.”

Siu Infrastructure and High Himalaya Hydro Construction JV filed a writ petition on May 5th, requesting an interim order to annul the notice issued for the evaluation of the technical proposal and the subsequent opening of the financial proposal based on it. They argued that the entire procurement process had become invalid because the amount quoted by the bidder in the financial proposal was made publicly known during the evaluation of the technical proposal. They also demanded that the entire procurement process be maintained in its current state.

A single bench of Judge Tanka Prasad Gurung had issued a show-cause order against Jagdulla Hydropower Company on May 6th. In the writ petition filed against Jagdulla Hydropower Company and its bid evaluation committee, the court also ordered them to submit a written response within 15 days.

Subsequently, on May 13th, the High Court summoned the original file related to the disputed contract of the Jagdulla Hydropower Project. The bench of Judges Khadananda Tiwari and Prakash Kharel ordered Jagdulla Hydropower Company to present the original file concerning the evaluation of the bids for the disputed contract before the court.

On April 22nd, Jagdulla Hydropower Company issued a notice stating that Jiangxi Construction Engineering (Group) Corporation (China) and ANK Construction Nepal JV, along with Sinohydro Corporation, were deemed qualified and that their financial proposals would be opened. After opening the financial proposals on May 7th, the contract is set to be awarded to Jiangxi Construction Engineering (Group) Corporation (China) and ANK Construction Nepal JV, as they submitted the lowest bid.

According to sources associated with the company, Sinohydro had quoted an amount of 15 billion 7 crore rupees including Value Added Tax (VAT), while Jiangxi and ANK JV had quoted 13 billion 73 crore rupees. The company has stated that the received financial proposals are currently being evaluated.

Jagdulla Limited had called for the contract process of the project for the second time on January 19th, 2025. Earlier, the contract process called on June 2nd, 2024, under Civil and Hydro-Mechanical Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) had been canceled after it became controversial.

Source: Kantipur