NEW DELHI: In a significant interim relief for Reliance Power Limited, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday stayed a communication issued by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) debarring the company from participating in its tenders for three years. The action was taken against Reliance Power and its subsidiary, Reliance NU BESS Limited, over allegations of submitting a fake bank guarantee during a tender process.
Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju held that the debarment order was issued without granting Reliance Power an opportunity to be heard, thus violating the principles of natural justice. “A decision as severe as blacklisting requires prior issuance of a show-cause notice,” the court observed.
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SECI’s decision to blacklist the companies, communicated on November 6, stemmed from irregularities in a tender for a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project. SECI claimed that the bank guarantee endorsement submitted by Reliance NU BESS was found to be fake, leading to the annulment of the tender process. Citing tender conditions, SECI asserted that submitting forged documents warranted disqualification from future bids.
The investigation further concluded that Reliance Power played a key role in the operations of its subsidiary, Reliance NU BESS, thus justifying its debarment. However, SECI only issued a show-cause notice to Reliance Power a week later, on November 13, after the initial debarment order had already been issued.