Thiruvananthapuram: Wadia Techno Engineering Services Limited has sought time before it appears before Thiruvananthapuram smart city project’s special purpose vehicle, for a hearing.
The company, which was the lowest bidder among the project management consultants offering to handhold the smart city project, was blacklisted by the Assam PWD alleging forgery. After its contract was terminated by the Assam government, the Guwahati high court had issued a stay order on its blacklisting.
It is because of the stay order that Smart Thiruvananthapuram Private Limited has now resorted to going for a hearing, according to CEO M Beena. “You cannot make the blacklisting the basis of any action, as there is a stay order. There will be strict legal ramifications. We are being very careful,” she said.
Originally, the hearing was scheduled for the end of this week. However the CEO said that Wadia had sought adjournment of the hearing since it was on short notice. The rescheduling of the hearing would be discussed with the chief secretary, she said.
Meanwhile, the Special Purpose Vehicle had sought legal advice from the law department, on what course of action needed to be taken regarding Wadia. “We hope we will get a response by the time we hold the hearing,” said Beena.
A major chunk of work as part of the smart city project remains stalled, as the consultant has not been finalised. For this reason, the SPV is looking into whether those projects which do not require a consultant, can be implemented. From the beginning, time has been of the essence as the smart city project is a central government project and there are apprehensions regarding its future after the parliamentary election.
