The court mandated adherence to tender conditions, emphasizing that procedural violations invalidate selections made via non-compliance with established rules.

JUDGMENT :

Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, J.

Preface:

1. The present writ petition has been instituted assailing the propriety and validity of the work order dated 28th May, 2024, issued by the concerned respondent in favour of respondent no. 6, pursuant to an e-tender process for the supply of cooked diets to the indoor patients of ESI Hospital, Manicktala, for a period of two years. The petitioner, in addition to seeking annulment of the said work order, prays for issuance of an appropriate direction upon the concerned respondents to commence a de novo tender process in strict conformity with Clause 39 of the Notice Inviting Tender, the provisions of the WEST BENGAL FINANCIAL RULES , and in due compliance with the order dated 22nd May, 2024, passed in WPA 13777 of 2024.

Petitioners’ case:

2. Before proceeding to unravel the tangled threads of the present discord, it would be apposite to recount the essential facts, as delineated in the writ petition and the documents annexed thereto, which culminated in the institution of the present proceeding.

3. Vide Notice Inviting Tender (for short, “NIT”) dated 11th May, 2023, the Superintendent, ESI Hospital, Manicktala, invited e-tenders from eligible bidders for the supply of cooked diets to the indoor patients of ESI Hospital, Manicktala, Kolkata, for the years 2023–24 and 2024–25.

4. On 18th May, 2023, a pre-bid meeting was convened by the members of the Tender Committee with prospective bidders at the office of the Medical Planning Officer-cum-Superintendent of the hospital. Upon deliberation on various issues pertaining to the said tender, minutes of the meeting were recorded, and vide Memo dated 18th May, 2023, several amendments to the terms and conditions of the tender were notified.

5. The petitioner no. 1, being an eligible tenderer, submitted both technical and financial bids in terms of the NIT and the minutes of the pre-bid meeting notified on 18th May, 2023.

6. During the tender process, however, one of the bidders, namely, Mr. Sandip Halder, submitted a representation dated 28th June, 2023, alleging certain breaches of the tender conditions by nearly 20 out of 23 participating bidders, including the petitioner. The said representation, however, remained unattended. Consequently, citing inaction on the part of the authorities in considering his representation, Mr. Halder preferred a writ petition being WPA 19281 of 2023, which was disposed of by a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court by an order dated 19.10.2023, directing the concerned respondents to consider the said representation after affording an opportunity of hearing to Mr. Halder and to the other tenderers against whom allegations of violation of the NIT terms had been made, and to finalize the tender process by 17th November, 2023.

7. In compliance with the order dated 19th October, 2023, a hearing was afforded to Mr. Halder and the other bidders against whom allegations had been levelled. Upon conclusion of the said process, the technical bids of 18 bidders were rejected, while five technical bids, including that of the petitioner (all being L1), were found to be in order. Thereafter, a “Technical Evaluation Sheet” was uploaded on the official website of the respondents on 11th November, 2023.

8. In the light of the aforesaid circumstances, as all five bids were found to be L1, the petitioner, by a representation dated 13th November, 2023, addressed to respondent no. 5, requested that the tender process be finalized in terms of Clause