Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction at the Director of Medical Education and Ranga Reddy collector for allotting integrated hospital facility management services (IHFMS) in TIMS Hospital at Gachibowli, on nomination basis to a private firm.
The court directed them to issue a tender notification within 10 days and complete the process in 45 days.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Abhinand Kumar Shavili made it clear that the court could not accept such nominations on the discretion of one officer or any influences upon them. “We cannot sit with our eyes closed to these kinds of misappropriations,” the bench commented.
The bench was dealing with the appeals filed by Sai Security Services, which challenged its termination at TIMS Hospital unilaterally and allotment of the same services to Nakshatra Inc, without issuing tender notification.
When this was challenged before a single judge, the court upheld the decision of the authorities. Sai Security Services then filed an appeal before the division bench. The Ranga Reddy collector had delayed placing his version before the division bench, and was ordered to appear before the court in March.
The contention of officers was that TIMS Hospital was established during the pandemic in 2020 on an urgent basis and Sai Security Services had been retained to maintain the services for one year. Its services were terminated at the end of one year.
The division bench asked why the administration didn't follow procedure or call tenders to find a replacement, and questioned how Nakshatra Inc. could be allotted the services without floating a tender.
