AHMEDABAD, JUNE 16: A division bench of Gujarat High Court, comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice S D Dave, has dismissed a writ petition challenging the Surat Municipal Corporation's tender proposal for leasing transport godown to two private parties.Opposing the proposal, petitioner Ranchhod Nagji Thesia stated that the SMC would incur huge losses if the rates quoted by the two parties -- Shanti Enterprise and Siddharth Corporation -- were accepted by the SMC.
The petition stated that Shanti Enterprise had quoted the price at the rate of Rs 45,750/sq yard, while Siddharth Corporation had quoted at the rate of Rs 45,250/sq yard. It alleged that both the parties had conspired to keep a difference of just Rs 500 in their quotations.
The petition further stated that according to the rate quoted by the two parties, the SMC would get only Rs 182 crores, while the actual price of the land was more than Rs 200 crore.Therefore, it said, the SMC would lose more than Rs 18 crore if the land was leased to the private parties.
The court, while dismissing the petition, also did not extend the stay granted till Wednesday. Counsel Kamal Trivedi appeared for the SMC and Mihir Joshi for Thesia.
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