JANUARY 2018

NATIONAL HIGHWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA

Regional Office, HyderabadH.No:8-2-334/18,Road no-3, Banjara hills, Hyderabad 500034.

Tele:, Ph.No.040-23551581/23551582 Fax.No.040-23551775 Email: rohyderabad@nhai.org, nhairohyd@gmail.com

NATIONAL HIGHWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) FOR EMPANELMENT OF LAW

FIRMS/ADVOCATES FOR NATIONAL HIGHWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA FOR THE

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION UNITS (PIUs)LOCATED AT HYDERABAD,

WARANGAL, KHAMMAM, NIRMAL, SANGAREDDY, MAHABUBNAGAR AND

MANCHERIAL

1. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) (the Authority) is engaged in development, maintenance and management of National Highways entrusted to it by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. Taking into consideration the complex needs in this direction, NHAI is looking for empanelment of competent & experienced Indian Law Firms/Advocates at the PIUs under Regional Office Hyderabad. The services of Law Firms/Advocates will be mainly utilized in the areas of disputes/arbitrations related to Land Acquisition and any other matter related to NHAI.
2. The NHAI invites Expression of Interest Applications from interested Law Firms/Advocates for the Scope of Work (SoW) which inter-alia includes the following;

i. Providing legal opinion on issues referred to by NHAI.

ii. Rendering services and providing opinion, as and when referred, on matters related to Arbitrations/Court Cases of PSUs/ Govt. Departments on Land Acquisition Disputes.

iii. Handling notices and other legal queries, as and when referred.

iv.

Representing NHAI before any Court of Law or Tribunal or Statutory Body or quasi-judicial authority or Arbitrators/Arbitral Tribunals under the relevant act(s) and any other proceedings, as and when referred.

v.

Conducting legal due diligence, as and when referred.

vi. Providing advice related to Legal matters of the Company in Indian and International Perspective as and when referred.

vii. Legal Vetting of draft notices, agreements, bidding documents, etc,.

3. Essential Eligibility Criteria

i. The responding Law Firms should be registered under the Statutes of India.

ii. Law Firms/Advocates should possess minimum experience of 5 years in Arbitrations/Court Cases of PSUs/ Govt. Departments on Land Acquisition Disputes in the relevant fields for empanelment in PIUs.

iii. Law Firms/Advocates must have the requisite infrastructure and in-house capability.

iv.

Law Firms/Advocates must practice Firewall Policy within to deal with contrary interests or confidential information.

v.

Law Firms/Advocates should possess professional expertise especially in handling cases in the areas of Arbitrations/Court Cases of PSUs/ Govt. Departments on Land Acquisition matters as per NH Act, 1956 etc.

vi. Law Firms/Advocates should be regular payers of all taxes as applicable to them. Please attach copies of Chartered Accountants Certificates/ Audited Balance Sheets/ P&L Accounts/ IT Returns, as applicable, for last three years.

vii. Law Firms/Advocates should not have been debarred by any Central/State Government Departments/Public Sector Undertakings.

viii. Law Firms/Advocates should not be involved in any major litigation that may have an impact of affecting or compromising the delivery of services as required under this EOI.

4. Expected expertise/inputs

i. Understanding of the scope of work;

ii. Domain specific experience in each of the areas relevant to SoW; and

iii. Adequate in-house capacity to meet the SoW

5. Expected Deliverables

i. Timely opinions on the referred issues; and

ii. Prompt legal services

6. Correspondence with Applicant

Given and except as provided in EOI, the NHAI shall not entertain any correspondence with any applicant in relation to the acceptance or rejection of any application. NHAI, in its sole discretion and without incurring any obligation or liability, reserves the right, at any time to:

(a)

Suspend and/or cancel the EOI process and/or amend and/or supplement the EOI process or modify the dates or other terms & conditions relating there-to.

(b)

Consult any applicant in order to receive clarification or further information.

(c)

Empanel or not to empanel any applicant.

(d)

Retain any information and/or evidence submitted to the NHAI by, on behalf of, and/or in relation to any applicant and/or.

(e)

Independently verify, disqualify, reject and/or accept any and all submissions or other information and/or evidence submitted by or on behalf of any applicant.

1. Fee Schedule : The schedule of fee payable for services rendered, shall be applicable as given in the Policy Guidelines of NHAI (relevant extracts enclosed). It may please be noted that the Schedule of Fees as given in the policy guidelines is fixed. The participating of Law Firms/Advocates are required to confirm that they accept and will provide their services as per the above mentioned Schedule of Fee of NHAI.
2. The applications received shall be evaluated as per the laid down criteria given below:

(A) Qualification Criteria for Empanelment of Law Firms for PIU level:

The Law Firms shall possess minimum 05 years of Experience in the areas of Arbitrations/Court Cases of PSUs/ Govt. Departments in disputes/Arbitrations related toLand Acquisition matters as per NH Act,1956 and RFCTLAR&R Act, 2013 etc. The applications of such Law Firms only will be taken up for further evaluation/assigningmarks, as per the Criteria given below:

Sr. No.	Criteria	Marks
i.	Experience of Advocates/Associates in Law Firm	05 Marks shall be given for each Advocate/Associate having experience of more than 05 years in the relevant field of Arbitrations/Court Cases of PSUs/ Govt. Departments on Contractual Disputes and disputes/Arbitrations related to Land Acquisition matters.
ii.	Additional advocates associated with the Law firm	02 Marks shall be given for each Advocate having 5 years experience in the relevant field and 01 Mark may be given for each Advocate having experience in the relevant field below 5 years.
iii.	Arbitral Awards passed in which the law firm defended the case on behalf of PSU/Govt. Dept. with respect to Land acquisition matters.	1/2 Marks shall be given for each Award passed by the Arbitral Tribunal in Land acquisition matters of PSUs/ Government Departments (subject to submission of the details of the awards/briefs of the matters)
iv.	Judgments of Honble District Courts (in Land acquisition matters (in which the law firm defended the case on behalf of PSU/Govt. Deptt.)	01 Marks shall be given for each case on Land acquisition matters of PSUs/Government Departments decided by Honble District Court(subject to submission of citation)
v.	Reported Judgments of Honble High Courts (before Ld. Single Judge) in Land acquisition matters (in which the law firm defended the case on behalf of PSU/Govt. Deptt.)	02 Marks shall be given for each case on Land acquisition matters of PSUs/Government Departments decided by Ld. Single Judge of Honble High Court (subject to submission of citation)
vi.	Judgments of Honble High Courts (before Division Bench) in Land acquisition matters (in which the law firm defended the case on behalf of PSU/Govt. Deptt.)	03 Marks shall be given for each case on Land acquisition matters of PSUs/ Government Departments decided by Honble Division Bench of the High Court (subject to submission of citation)
vii.	Judgments before Honble Supreme Court in Land acquisition matters in which the law firm defended the case on behalf of PSU/Govt. Deptt.	04 Marks shall be given for each case on Land acquisition matters of PSUs/ Government Departments. (subject to submission of citation)
viii.	Landmark Judgments in Land acquisition matters in which the law firm defended the case on behalf of PSU/Govt. Deptt.)	Additional 05 Marks for each landmark judgment subject to submission of citation details.

Note: Relevant field wherever mentioned is Arbitrations/Court Cases of PSUs/ Govt. Departments on Land acquisition matters as per NH Act, 1956 & RFCTLAR&R Act, 2013 etc.

(B) Qualification Criteria for Empanelment of individual Advocates for PIU level:

The individual Advocates shall possess minimum practice of 05 Years in Arbitrations/Court Cases of PSUs/ Govt. Departments on Contractual Disputes anddisputes/Arbitrations related to Land Acquisition matters as per NH Act,1956 and RFCTLAR&R Act, 2013 etc. The applications of such Advocates only will be taken upfor further evaluation/assigning marks, as per the Criteria given below:

Sr. No.	Criteria	Marks
i.	Experience more than 05 Years	05 Marks shall be given
ii.	Additional advocates associated with the applicant.	02 Marks shall be given for each Advocate having 5 years experience in the relevant field and 01 Mark may be given for each Advocate having experience in the relevant field below 5 years.
iii.	Arbitral Awards passed in which the Advocate defended the case on behalf of PSU/Govt. Dept.	1/2 Marks shall be given for each Award passed by the Arbitral Tribunal in Contractual Disputes of PSUs/ Government Departments (subject to submission of the details of the awards/briefs of the matters)
iv.	Judgments of Honble District Courts (in Land acquisition matters (in which the advocate defended the case on behalf of PSU/Govt. Deptt.)	01 Mark shall be given for each case on Land acquisition matters of PSUs/Government Departments decided by Honble District Court(subject to submission of citation)
v.	Judgments of Honble High Courts (before Ld. Single Judge) in Land Acquisition matters (in which the Advocate defended the case on behalf of PSU/Govt. Deptt.)	02 Marks shall be given for each case on Land Acquisition of PSUs/ Government Departments decided by Ld. Single Judge of High Court (subject to submission of citation)
vi.	Judgments of Honble High Courts (before Division Bench) in Land Acquisition matters (in which the Advocate defended the case on behalf of PSU/Govt. Deptt.)	03 Marks shall be given for each case on Land Acquisition matters of PSUs/ Government Departments decided by Honble Division Bench (subject to submission of citation)
vii.	Judgments before Honble Supreme Court in Land Acquisition matters in which the Advocate defended the case on behalf of PSU/Govt. Deptt.	04 Marks shall be given for each case on Land Acquisition matters of PSUs/ Government Departments. (subject to submission of citation)
viii.	Landmark Judgments in Contractual/ Arbitrations matters in which the Advocate defended the case on behalf of PSU/Govt. Deptt.	Additional 05 Marks for each landmark judgment subject to submission of citation details.

Note: Relevant field wherever mentioned is Arbitrations/Court Cases of PSUs/ Govt. Departments on Land Acquisition matters as per NH Act, 1956 and RFCTLAR&R Act, 2013 etc.

9. (i) The applications received will be evaluated & the Law Firms and Advocates will be empanelled separately for the maximum numbers given below based on the marks scored (in descending order):

Sl. No.	Name of the PIU	Maximum No. of Law Firms to be empanelledwith respect to LandAcquisition matters	Maximum No. of Individual Advocates to be empanelled forLand Acquisition matters
1	Hyderabad	5	5
2	Warangal	5	5
3	Khammam	5	5
4	Nirmal	5	5
5	SangaReddy	5	5
6	Mahabubnagar	5	5
7	Mancherial	5	5
Total	35	35

(ii) Only one application shall be submitted to NHAI by each Law Firm/Advocate.

(iii) The details of applications received and the evaluation of NHAI (marks given) will be placed on website of NHAI. The applicants shall observe highest standards of ethics in the details provided. The Law Firms/ Advocates shall be solely responsible for the correctness of the details provided in their applications. In case of any misrepresentations noticed at any time, the Law Firm/ Advocate shall be removed from the list of empanelment and the cases in hand will be withdrawn and the firm/ advocate shall be debarred for 2 years from entrustment of any work of NHAI.

(iv) NHAI reserves the right to allot matters/ cases to the law firms/ advocates from the empanelled list or outside the list, in its sole discretion.

10. Validity of Empanelment:

The empanelment shall be valid for one year. However, NHAI reserves the right to modify the validity period at its sole discretion, without assigning any reasons.

11. Submission of Application:

All EOI applications shall be addressed to Regional Officer and delivered at the address given below. All EOI applications should include the details mentioned in the format which may be downloaded from the NHAI website-http://www.nhai.org. Eligible & interestedLaw firms/Advocates are invited to submit their applications so as to reach at thefollowing address on or before due date/ time i.e., 1500 hrs. of 15.02.2018:

Regional Officer, National Highways Authority of India, Regional Office, Hyderabad, H.No:8-2-334/18,Road no-3, Banjara hills, Hyderabad 500034.

12. The individual Advocates applying for empanelment shall choose the PIUs nearest to their residence/office and mention the name of the PIUs in their order of preference.

Applications received late shall be summarily rejected.

Disclaimer: This EOI is not an agreement and is neither an offer nor invitation by the Authority to the prospective Applicants or any other person. The purpose of this EOI is to provide interested parties with information that may be useful to them in the formulation of their Applications pursuant to this EOI. The Authority may, in its absolute discretion but without being under any obligation to do so, update, amend or supplement the information, assessment or assumptions contained in this EOI. The Authority reserves its rights to reject any or all of the applications without assigning any reason thereof.