IMPORTANT POINT
The court emphasized the need for restraint in interfering with commercial matters and the limitations of the court's expertise in technical issues related to tenders and contracts.

JUDGMENT :

1. Rule.

Rule is made returnable forthwith.

With the consent of the learned Counsel representing the parties, these two Writ Petitions where subject matter of challenge is the same, have been taken up and heard together for final adjudication.

(A) CHALLENGE:

2. These petitions take exception to the impugned action on the part of Respondent Nos.1 and 2 which according to the Petitioners has resulted in their illegal exclusion from participation in the tender process pursuant to the tender notice dated 25th January 2024 which was issued for procurement of school uniform cloth material to be distributed amongst the students studying in the Government schools in the State of Maharashtra for the year 2024-2025. The primary submission made on behalf of the Petitioners is that as per the bid document, the time available for submission of bid was upto 4.00 pm. on 15th February 2024, however, the portal, where the participating bidders were supposed to submit their bids was closed at 3.00 pm. itself on the said date which resulted in exclusion of the Petitioners from participation in the bid thereby infringing their fundamental right enshrined under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India. Petitioners have also pleaded violation of the provisions contained in paragraph 4.4.3.1 of the Procurement Manual as embodied in the Government Resolution dated 1st December 2016.

(B) FACTS OF THE CASE AS PLEADED BY THE PETITIONERS:

3. The State of Maharashtra is implementing Free School Uniform Distribution Scheme and in that endeavor it is providing uniform to all students studying in class 1 to 8 in Government schools. For procuring the said uniform cloth, a tender notice dated 25th January 2024 (hereinafter referred to as the tender notice) was published on the Government e-markets (Gem) portal according to which the estimated bid value of the tender was Rs.138.11 crores. The tender notice stipulated the “bid end date/time” as 15th February 2024 at 15.00.00. The said notice also stipulated the bid opening date/time as 15th February 2024 at 15.30.00 hrs.

4. As per the tender notice, the period within which the delivery of the item to be procured is to be made is 30 days. The tender notice was accompanied by e-tender document which contains detail procedure for inviting bids, the eligibility criteria, scope of work, schedule of e-tender process and other necessary details for bid opening and its evaluation etc. Clause 1(v) of the bid document clearly stipulated that the Maharashtra Prathamik Shikshan Parishad (hereinafter referred to as the Parishad) which had invited the bids shall not be responsible for delays in on-line submission of the bid for any reason. It also stipulated that the bidders were accordingly requested to upload the complete bid proposal well in advance so as to avoid issues like slow speed, choking of web site due to heavy load or any other unforeseen problems. Clause 1(v) of the tender document is extracted hereinbelow:

1(v) Bidder (authorized signatory) shall submit their offer online in electronic formats for qualification, technical and financial proposal. However, Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) shall be paid as per the details provided in the E-Tender. MPSP shall not be responsible for delays in online submission by bidder due to any reason. For this, bidders are requested to upload the complete bid proposal well in advance so as to avoid issues like slow speed, chocking of web site due to heavy load or any other unforeseen problems.

5. Clause 1(vi) of the tender document also advised the bidders to refer help desk for any details about the Tendering process. The said advice was given by the tendering authority for the reason that the bidders were required to submit their offer online in electronic form. Clause 1(vi) is also extracted hereinbelow:

“1(vi) Bidders are also advised to refer help desk available at https://gem.gov.in for further details about the E-Tendering process.”

6. As per the Schedule of e-tender pro