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New Indian Express
07-05-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Orissa High Court stays BDA's termination of agreement with firm managing Cuttack Netaji Bus Terminal
CUTTACK: Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA)'s notice of termination of agreement with a Maharashtra-based firm for maintenance and management of Cuttack Netaji Bus Terminal (CNBT) has come under the Orissa High Court scanner. The division bench of Justices KR Mohapatra and Savitri Ratho recently directed BDA to keep the notice of termination in abeyance till June 30. The termination notice issued on April 21, 2025 directed the firm to demobilise its personnel and also intimated that the last working day of the firm at CNBT will be April 30. The agreement was executed by BDA with the firm on August 25, 2023. It was valid till August 24, 2028. The court issued the direction after the firm challenged the notice on the grounds that no reason has been assigned for the premature termination of the agreement. In the order on May 1, the bench noted that no reason has been assigned by the BDA for termination of the agreement. 'It also appears that in the garb of exercising the power to reduce the scope of the work, BDA has terminated the agreement prematurely w.e.f. 1st May, 2025. No fault/default has been attributed to the petitioner for such premature termination. Hence, the matter requires consideration,' the bench observed. 'Since we find a prima facie case in favour of the petitioner and have issued notice in the matter, the continuance of the petitioner to perform the job as per agreement should continue till the next date (June 30),' the bench ordered and issued notice to BDA. The CNBT is a hi-tech bus stand built by the Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation over 14.95 acre of land at Khannagar area in Cuttack at a cost of Rs 90 crore.
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
HC lens on BDA's termination of pact with firm managing Cuttack bus terminal
1 2 Cuttack: Orissa high court has directed the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) to keep the termination of agreement with a Maharashtra-based firm for maintenance and management of Cuttack Netaji Bus Terminal (CNBT) in abeyance till June was built by the Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation (OBCC) over 14.95 acres of land at Khannagar area at a cost of Rs 90 crore. Govt had named BDA as the nodal agency to select the private firm to manage had executed the agreement for five years with the firm on Aug 25, 2023. The agreement was valid till Aug 24, 2028. But on April 21 this year, BDA issued the termination notice directing the firm "to demobilize its personnel". The notice also specified that the last working day of the firm at CNBT will be April firm challenged the notice alleging that the "premature termination of the agreement" is "illegal and unreasonable" as no reason has been assigned. While senior advocate Saurjya Kanta Padhi made submissions on the firm's behalf, additional standing counsel, Pradeep Kumar Sahoo, represented note of it, the two-judge bench of Justices K R Mohapatra and Savitri Ratho in their order on May 1 said, "Considering the submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties, this court prima facie finds that no reason has been assigned by the BDA for termination of the agreement with the petitioner for maintenance and managerial work at CNBT."The bench said that "it also appears that in the garb of exercising the power to reduce the scope of the work, BDA has terminated the agreement prematurely" with effect from May 1. "No fault/default has been attributed to the petitioner for such premature termination. Hence, the matter requires consideration," the order while issuing notice to BDA, the bench also said, "Since we find a prima facie case in favour of the petitioner and have issued notice in the matter, the continuance of the petitioner to perform the job as per agreement should continue till the next date (June 30).""In view of the above, the termination notice dated April 21, 2025 issued to the petitioner shall be kept in abeyance till the next date," the bench contended that "terminating the agreement prematurely is nothing but an act of arbitrariness and is liable to be struck down". He further submitted that though the petitioner was informed to demobilise personnel from the CNBT but they are still operating and no fresh agreement has yet been executed with any other party to perform the job that the petitioner is argued that the dispute arising out of the contract shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the civil court, Bhubaneswar. Hence, the writ petition is not maintainable.
