S.J. Vazifdar, J.

1. The petitioners have challenged the first respondent’s decision to consider respondent No.3 – HAL Offshore Limited as a qualified bidder for the tender in question; the decision of respondent No.1 to declare respondent No.3 as the L-1 bidder in respect of the said tender and the decision of respondent No.1 to permit respondent No.3 to satisfy the bid eligibility criteria by giving an undertaking to comply with the technical specifications stipulated in the tender before the supplies are made.

2. In December, 2012, respondent No.1 published a Competitive Bid E-Tender for “revamp of safety system at Neelam and Heera Wellhead platforms”. The product in respect of which tenders were invited is a DCP Skid Fire Firing System 150 Kg capacity for offshore installation. The tenders were invited in the two-bid system viz a technical bid and a commercial bid.

3. Petitioner No.1 and respondent No.3 submitted tenders. According to the petitioners, respondent No.3 failed to satisfy the eligibility criteria and was, therefore, not entitled to have its price bid opened.

4. Mr. Dada, the learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent No.3 firstly cont