Shillong, Jan 7: The Meghalaya High Court has upheld the blacklisting of two companies that were accused by the state government of “outright and rampant corruption” in road projects a decade and a half ago.
The Hyderabad-based BSCPL Infrastructure Ltd and Gurgaon-based C&C Constructions had been involved in a joint venture in 2011 for roadworks on National Highway 44E and the Nongstoiñ-Rongjeng-Tura Road. The work was sanctioned for Rs 1,303.83 crore but the companies wanted this increase following additional work and price adjustments. The joint venture received Rs 2,523 crore plus another Rs 94 crore through arbitral awards.
Disputes led to arbitration, during which the state government examined the contractor’s books. Paperwork relating to the joint venture revealed that there had been repeated payments made for gift, liquor, hospitality and other benefits to public officials, engineers and members of the Dispute Resolution Board and the government cited these as proof of “outright and rampant corruption”, leading to the companies’ disbarment by the state Public Works Department for a period of five years on December 3.
BSCPL Infrastructure and C&C Constructions challenged this move in court but Justice HS Thangkhiew dismissed the joint venture’s writ petitions. He ruled that the blacklisting was lawful, proportionate and in the public interest and found no violation of natural justice or lack of authority by the state.
The court upheld the state’s authority under contract Clause 59.2(h) and its discretion in contractor selection. Noting that the joint venture had responded to the show-cause notice issued by the PWD in September 2024, the court deemed the arbitral tribunal-validated evidence credible. It ruled that a five-year ban was proportionate, considering the scale of the project, public funds involved and the severity of misconduct, adding that public interest outweighed private concerns.
