Public Procurement Bill Consultation

Public Procurement Bill Consultation

On 14th May, 2015, the Centre for Banking and Finance Laws at NLU Delhi organized a National Consultation on Public Procurement Bill, 2012 in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance. The aim of the Consultation was to provide a platform to stakeholders from different sectors to discuss their views on the Public Procurement Bill, 2012.

In his Presidential address Professor (Dr.) Ranbir Singh, Vice-Chancellor, NLUD talked about a number of recent scams that have taken place in India, thereby, recognizing the importance of a law on public procurement. Thereafter, Mr Sanjay Aggarwal, Director, Procurement Policy Division, Ministry of Finance highlighted the vision of Hon’ble Finance Minister Mr Arun Jaitley to reintroduce the Public Procurement Bill in the Parliament. In his keynote address, Mr Harsh Kumar, Director, National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM), Faridabad provided a brief background on legal framework on public procurement in India and the need to have a Central Law on Public Procurement in India. Prof. G.S. Bajpai, Registrar, NLUD, shared his ideas on the subject and presented Vote of Thanks.

The event witnessed participation from various stakeholders and institutions like Competition Commission of India (CCI), Indian Railways, BSNL, NIC, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), CUTS, academicians and researchers from various Universities. The Post-Graduate students of LL.M. participated enthusiastically since it was a great learning experience for them.

The Programme was divided into two technical sessions. The first session on principles and methods of procurement discussed the Constitutional aspects of the Bill as well as various definitional and structural issues in the Bill by stakeholders from the Ministry of Railways and Competition Commission of India. Prof M.P. Singh chaired the session with other invited speakers. The second session on Institutional Mechanism, Grievance Redressal and Penalties discussed the lacunae’s in the Redressal Mechanism provided for in the Bill and the need of a Public Procurement Policy for India. This session was chaired by Sh. Dhanendra Kumar, Former Chairperson, CCI. A consultation questionnaire was prepared by the organizers that was circulated amongst the participants for their responses. The outcomes would be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for their perusal. The event was a great success.

The Consultation coordinators were Dr Ritu Gupta, Associate Professor, NLUD and Dr Aparajita Bhatt, Assistant Professor, NLUD. Mr Dinesh Singh, Research Associate, NLUD and Ms Navpreet Singh, student LL.M., NLUD helped in organization. The sessions were followed by Lunch and Tea.