An employer may reject the lowest tender bid if justified by comparative analysis with benchmark bids, without creating a vested right for acceptance.

ORDER :

SURAJ GOVINDARAJ, J.

1. The Petitioner is before this Court seeking for the following reliefs:

a. Issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate Writ, Order, or Direction directing Respondent No. 1 to issue the Letter of Intent (LoI) and consequential Work Order in favour of the Petitioner, being the duly qualified L1 bidder (Annexure-G), in accordance with Section 13(3) of the KTPP Act and Rule 26(2) of the Rules, 2000;

b. Declare the contemplated cancellation or any action arising out of the Board Meeting dated 05.06.2025 as void and unenforceable, having been undertaken without valid reasons or due process, in violation of Section 14(1) of the KTPP Act;

c. Direct the Respondents through an injunction to refrain from floating or processing any fresh tender-whether in whole or in fragmented scope-covering the same or substantially similar work under the CITIIS 2.0 Programme, so long as the current tender process has not been lawfully concluded (Annexures-D, G); dated 06/02/2025

d. Direct initiation of blacklisting proceedings against Respondent No. 5, in terms of Section 23 of the KTPP Act, on the basis of forged documents submitted in the bid, as confirmed by the Agartala Municipal Corporation and the Urban Development Department, GoK (Annexure-F); dated 13/06/2025

e. Issue a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ or order quashing the office order dated 01st July 2025 bearing No: BSCL/E-Proc/ CITHS2.0/NABET/2025-26/issued by Respondent No.1, the Managing Director, Belagavi Smart City Limited. A copy of the Office Order dated 01st July 2025 is produced as Annexure-K.

f. Issue a Writ of Certiorari or any other Appropriate writ or order quashing the order No. UDD 169 CSS 2025 dated 16th July 2025 with respect to KPP Portal tender No. BSCL/2024-25/SE0010/CALL-2) Bid No.B5833522 issued by Respondent No.4, the Urban Development Department. A copy of the order No. UDD 169 CSS 2025 dated 16th July 2025 with respect to KPP Portal tender No. BSCL/2024- 25/SE0010/CALL-2) Bid No.B5833522 is herein Produced as Annexure L.

2. The Petitioner claims to be a Regional associate and duly authorised signatory of a reputed consultancy firm engaged in providing environmental and social safeguard services to various government agencies. Respondent No. 1, Belgavi Smart City Limited, was selected under the prestigious CITIIS 2.0 programme, jointly funded by the Government of India and international agencies as a smart city, in furtherance of which a tender came to be issued for the preparation of ESIA and RAP documents.

3. The first tender floated in January 2025 was cancelled due to alleged procedural lapses and poor bidder turnout. The second tender was floated in February 2025, inviting bids from qualified consultancy firms. During the preliminary market survey held on December 24, Respondent No.1 received quotations from nearly 60 NABET-accredited firms, and it is alleged that the highest quotation received was Rs 112 lakhs.

4. Tender having been called in the month of January 2025, which had been cancelled, the second tender, as indicated, came to be floated in February 2025. The Petitioner participated in the second tender and submitted an Earnest Money Deposit [EMD] of Rs.1,00,000/- through the official Karnataka Public Procurement Portal, established under the KARNATAKA TRANSPARENCY IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT ACT , 1999 [‘KTPP Act of 1999’ for short] and Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Rules, 2000 [KTPP Rules of 2000’ for short]. The evaluation process being two stages, one for technical and the other for financial, the Petitioner was declared as the lowest responsive and techni