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Informist, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025

 

--HC sets aside foreign min's debarment order against BLS International 

--CONTEXT:BLS Intl barred from foreign min, Indian mission tenders for 2 yrs 

 

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court Thursday set aside the Ministry of External Affairs' order debarring BLS International Services Ltd. from participating in all future tenders of the ministry and Indian missions abroad for two years. The court rejected the ministry's argument that BLS International Services had resorted to litigation against the lowest bidder to scuttle and postpone the tender process in those territories where it did not become the incumbent operator.

 

The mere institution of legal proceedings by BLS International Services, even if directed against successful lowest bidders in different tenders, cannot by itself constitute "anti-competitive behaviour" to justify a measure as severe as debarment, the court said. The right to access courts is a constitutional right, and the exercise of such a right cannot be treated as an act impairing the fairness or progress of the tender or procurement process, the court said.

 

Litigation pursued to challenge irregularities or to enforce rights may or may not succeed on the merits, the court said. But it does not acquire the character of collusive or rigged conduct or "anti-competitive behaviour", Justice Sachin Datta said. "Thus, it is ex facie untenable to attribute misconduct or draw adverse conclusions regarding breach of the 'code of integrity' merely on the basis that the petitioner (BLS International Services) has been a prolific litigator," Justice Datta said.

 

The external affairs ministry has failed to furnish any justification and was conspicuously silent as to the factors that weighed in imposing a debarment for the "maximum" permissible period of two years, the court said. "The impugned order does not demonstrate any application of mind to the principle of proportionality, which is an essential facet of administrative decision-making. In the absence of any discernible rationale, the imposition of a two-year debarment appears to be mechanical and arbitrary," the court said. 

 

However, the court granted the foreign ministry liberty to issue a fresh show-cause notice if it sought to debar BLS International on the ground of alleged substandard quality of work or services. In the event of such a show-cause notice being issued, it shall be incumbent on the ministry to give BLS International a reasonable and adequate opportunity to respond, the court said.

 

BLS International Services said that in February and March, the ministry's missions abroad floated 26 tenders, of which the company was awarded only one, as the lowest bidder. Of the remaining 25 tenders, the company challenged the tender results of five before the court on the grounds that the bids of the lowest bidders were financially and technically unviable. Soon thereafter, the ministry issued a show-cause notice that treated the company's invocation of the high court's jurisdiction and the complaints received against BLS International Services for debarment, the company said. Thereafter, the ministry issued an order in October barring the company.

 

The ministry said the debarment order was based on a history of complaints and unethical practices attributed to BLS International Services. This included financial penalties imposed on the company, its alleged impairment of fair competition, monopolistic behaviour and a pattern of misconduct, repeated tender challenges targeting other lowest bidders, and the public interest impact of these acts. 

 

Thursday, the company's shares ended 1.5% higher at INR 316.45 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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