Orders reserved on Tasmac bar tenders

The Madras High Court has on Monday reserved orders on a petition challenging the decision of the state calling for fresh tenders for awarding permission to run bars attached to Tasmac outlets.

Justice C Saravanan has passed the orders on the plea by Tamil Nadu Tasmac Bar Owners Associations. The petitioner filed the writ petition against the government contending that despite them having the no-objection certificate (NOC) from the landowners where the bars functioned, the government has called for fresh tenders.

During the hearing on January 5, 2022, Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram submitted that the state had already finalised tenders for 2,530 bars. Senior counsel ARL Sundaresan appearing for the petitioner wanted to reject the contention submitting that the bars were kept closed for around 15 months due to the pandemic.

The AG countered by pointing out that the state has not stopped anyone from getting the tender applications. “The state has issued around 13,000 applications for getting tenders to run the Tasmac bars till date,” he added. Since applications have not been issued so far for eight districts, advocate Sundaresan pleaded for a direction to the government not to issue fresh tenders for those districts. He also made it clear that special officers should be appointed to monitor the process.

The judge held that the orders are reserved.