Turkish Firm's Bid for Optical Fibre Network
SC issues status quo on HC verdict
The Supreme Court yesterday issued a status quo for two weeks on an August 7 High Court verdict directing BTCL to let a Turkish firm bid for the construction of an optical fibre transmission network.
Justice Md Shamsul Huda, chamber judge of SC's Appellate Division, passed the order after hearing a petition filed by Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) acting managing director Md Azizul Islam seeking a status quo order on the HC verdict.
Justice Shamsul also asked Azizul to file a leave to appeal petition with the SC against the HC verdict within two weeks.
Advocate Abdul Matin Khasru, counsel for the firm, Nortel Networks Netas Telekomunikasyon, said since the SC had not stayed the HC verdict, BTCL was not barred from allowing the firm to bid for the construction.
The HC verdict will remain as it is for the next two weeks, he said.
However, Azizul's counsel, Advocate Anisul Huq, interpreted the status quo order as saying that the HC verdict cannot be executed for the next two weeks.
The status quo order will be automatically vacated after two weeks if Azizul does not file the leave to appeal petition with the SC, he said.
During yesterday's hearing, Matin said Azizul had no legal authority, right and power to move any appeal against the HC verdict, since neither the government nor BTCL's Board of Directors permitted him to do so.
Allowing Nortel Networks Netas Telekomunikasyon to bid will lead to a fair and healthy competition, saving around Tk 100 crore of the government, he said.
Earlier, Nortel Networks Netas Telekomunikasyon had taken part in a pre-qualification bidding for the construction of the optical fibre transmission network.
At that time, BTCL, the state-run telecom company, disqualified Nortel Networks Netas Telekomunikasyon from the pre-qualification bidding and moved on with two other firms.
Nortel Networks Netas Telekomunikasyon then filed a complaint with a quasi-judicial review panel, which reviews all public purchases on the basis of any complaint, challenging the decision to disqualify it from the pre-qualification bidding.
After a hearing, the panel, on March 6, asked BTCL to allow Nortel Networks Netas Telekomunikasyon to bid for the construction.
The panel said the evaluation carried out by BTCL in the pre-qualification bidding was improper and the subsequent disqualification of Nortel Networks Netas Telekomunikasyon from the bidding was illogical and unilateral.
On March 18, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications directed BTCL to follow the decision taken by the panel. BTCL's Board of Directors gave the same direction on March 20.
On May 3, BTCL opened the financial offers for the construction of the optical fibre transmission network, leaving Nortel Networks Netas Telekomunikasyon out of the bidding list.
In the same month, Azizul filed a writ petition with the HC challenging the decision taken by the panel.
The HC, on August 7, rejected Azizul's petition as he had filed it without approval from the Board of Directors.
That day, the HC also accepted a writ petition filed by Nortel Networks Netas Telekomunikasyon challenging the legality of Azizul's petition and directed BTCL to let the firm bid for the construction.
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