Strict adherence to eligibility criteria in public tenders is essential, and deviations from submission requirements are not condoned to maintain process integrity.

JUDGMENT :

A.S. SUPEHIA, J.

1. RULE. Learned advocate Mr.Nirad D. Buch for the respondent No.1-Food Corporation of India (FCI), learned advocate Mr.Chinmay Upadhyay for respondent No.2-M/s.K.B. Enterprise and learned advocate Ms.Nikita Sharma for learned advocate Mr.Akshay Matani for respondent No.4-Government e-Marketplace (GeM), appear and waive service of notice of rule on behalf of the respective respondents.

2. On behalf of learned advocate Mr.Akshay Matani, it is submitted that since respondent No.4-GeM is a formal party, it would like not to contest the matter.

BRIEF FACTS

3. The present writ petition emanates from the Tender being GEM/2025/B/5977638 floated by respondent No.1-FCI on 20.02.2025 for appointment of H & T Contractor for loading/unloading/handling and transport of food grains and allied material etc. in and around Food Storage Depot (FSD), Valsad. The entire Bid Process was to be held on GeM Portal and the Tender Document was to be purchased from the Portal and the supporting documents in this regard were to be uploaded by the concerned bidders. The last date for submitting the on- line bid as well as the date of opening of the Technical Bid was 13.03.2025, whereas the date of opening of the Price Bid of technically qualified tenderers was to be notified at a later stage.

4. Accordingly, petitioner-Master Enterprise, a Proprietorship Firm, participated in the tender and uploaded the Technical Bid and Price Bid along with all the necessary supporting documents. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner had placed a bid of value of contract worth Rs.30,65,04,000/-, which is lower than the bid valued by respondent No.2-M/s.K.B.Enterprise being Rs.34,48,17,000/-.

5. On 14.05.2025, the GeM Portal dispatched the reason for technical evaluation and the technical evaluation history and the petitioner was declared disqualified for “Not meeting the eligibility criteria specified in Bid Clause as per details indicated in the comment.”. The comment mentioned in the GeM Portal is “Technically disqualified as per terms and conditions of MTF”. On the very same day i.e. on 14.05.2025, the petitioner made a representation to the General Manager of respondent No.1-FCI inquiring for the specific reason for disqualification. Thereafter, on 16.05.2025, at 11:45, the clarification history at the GeM Portal displayed as under:

“Illegible documents of Work Experience, Work Order, EPF & ESIC Certificate uploaded in tender, but as per MTF only legible documents should be uploaded”

6. The petitioner has attempted to take shelter under the disqualification comment displayed on the GeM Portal and the note therein mentioned about Paragraph No.7.3.5 of the Clarification of Bids/Shortfall Documents of the Manual for Procurement of Goods, 2017 issued by the Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure. It further mentions that the request for clarification on the bid shall be given asking the tenderer to respond by a specified date and if the tenderer does not comply or respond by the date, his tender will be liable to be rejected.

7. On 16.05.2025, the petitioner made a representation to the respondent No.1-FCI informing that, they have re-uploaded the same documents, which were illegible on the GeM Portal for further verification. An affidavit, confirming the authenticity of the documents, was also submitted.

8. It appears that the Technical Evaluation Committee (for short “the TEC”) considered the representation of the petitioner and rejected the same on 16.05.2025. Thereafter, it appears that the subsequent represent