SHC stays medicine procurement for Thar

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) restrained on Friday the Sindh Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (SPPRA) from finalising the process of awarding a contract to procure medicines meant for patients in the drought-hit areas of district Tharparkar.

A division bench, headed by Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, also directed the SPPRA's complaints redressal committee to make a decision on the complaint of a private company, A-Z Pharmaceutical, regarding the alleged violations of the procurement laws.

The company had approached the SHC against alleged violations of the procurement laws in the process of awarding contracts. It had named the provincial health secretary, the SPPRA managing director and others as respondents. The petitioner said it had applied for the contract when the government advertised in the media.  The officials directed the bidders to provide technical and financial proposals separately in sealed envelopes.

The petitioner tendered its bid in respect of 10 medicines and also paid Rs 2.9 million. The federal health ministry has examined the products and standards of the medicines and registered them.

However, in this case, the petitioner's bid was not entertained. The petitioner claimed the respondents have failed to maintain transparency in the process. It also filed a complaint against such irregularities on November 17 but nothing has been done so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2014.