New Delhi: French-origin engineering company, Systra MVA Consulting (India) Pvt Ltd, which had designed and was overseeing the construction of metro lines in Mumbai, has levelled corruption charges against senior officials of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
According to a report by The Times of India, the complaints communicated by Systra to the Maharashtra government included pressuring the firm to inflate orders to contractors, stalling approvals for key staff and imposing arbitrary penalties.
Subsequently, Systra sought diplomatic intervention and in a letter dated November 12, 2024, the French embassy asked Rupinder Singh, resident commissioner of Maharashtra in Delhi, to intervene for the firm, which cited “severe harassment and challenges” while working as general consultant on MMRDA projects, the newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, in January, MMRDA informed the firm that it had decided to discontinue Systra’s services for the three metro lines it was working on.
The Indian Express reported that the French firm had submitted a bid of Rs. 90.76 crore in June 2020 and won the project for design, assistance in procurement, construction and management supervision for Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan, Andheri (East)-CSIA and Mira Bhayander lines of the Mumbai Metro.
In May 2021, it was appointed general consultant for system works for part of the three metro lines. While the term of appointment was to end in November 2024, it was extended up to December 2026. However, on January 3, the MMRDA issued notice to Systra to discontinue its services, the report said.
Bombay high court steps in
On Tuesday, the Bombay high court quashed the notice issued by the MMRDA terminating the Systra contract, observing that the discontinuation of the contract “without assigning any reasons, is arbitrary, unfair, and unreasonable”.
A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Arif S Doctor directed MMRDA to take a “fresh decision” on whether to discontinue the contract and asked the authority to pass a reasoned order after hearing the company which has a 70 per cent stake in Systra-SMCIPL Consortium, the report said.
