Chandigarh, Dec. 11 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Chandigarh Administration to award design work of new high court block on a 11 lakh square feet area on the same premises to a Noida-based consultant without adhering to the mandatory bidding process followed under normal circumstances.

"This court, in view of the constraints of shortage of space being faced by this court, is of the view that for executing the modified holistic plan, special circumstances exist of critical shortage of space available for this high court for adopting the single source selection for selecting a particular consultant, where sufficient justification is available," the bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sanjiv Berry observed ...